Something Wicked This Way Comes
by The Samurai Prince
Summary: Joker is in Jump City for something specific, as well as visiting his 'favorite' bird. Will the Titans handle the self-proclaimed Clown Prince of Crime's newest sinister plot? (Robin/Raven. Set after Trouble in Tokyo, featuring Batman.) [REVISING SOME CHAPTERS]
1. Putting a Smile on Jump City's Face

****[Note: This chapter was written by YoungNapoleon22. :) ]****

 **[EDIT: 7/6/2017]**

 ** **Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans, Batman, or The Joker. They ALL are owned by DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation. This is just for creative fun. ;)****

 ** **xXx****

 ** **Something Wicked This Way Comes****

 ** **xXx****

* * *

 ** **Chapter 1****

* * *

Gotham City; a bustling metropolis of over eight hundred thousand citizens. This city is the yang to Metropolis' yin; where the home of Superman is made up of smiling faces and clear skies, Gotham is a place of harsh facades and a cloudy atmosphere. This left the big city shrouded in shadows.

Perfect for hiding even the most notorious villains.

One such hiding place was Jolly Jester's Jack in the Box; a long condemned, and run-down party house. J.J.'s is a two-story structure made of large bricks topped with a giant, smiling clown head with the name plastered along the facade. Its once brilliant red paint job has long since faded to a dreary, pasty pink and many of the windows were either boarded-up or broken. While many Gothamites look to this building with distaste, there is one that found J.J.'s to be his dream home.

The city's Clown Prince of Crime; Joker.

"Harley! Get these mangy mutts out of here, I can't hear the television!"

Inside the shambled remains of J.J.'s, the Joker sat in his favorite chair, taking a break from plotting crimes, and trying to watch the news. __Trying__ was the keyword, because his pet hyenas, Bud and Lou, were sitting in front of the screen whining to be fed dinner.

"Well maybe if you fed them they would leave you alone," came the heavily-accented voice of Joker's female companion as she walked into the "living room".

Joker turned his head to send a glare towards...whatever she was, and took the time to take her in before snapping back. Harley, in compliance with her name, was dressed just so. She was dressed like a jester in a black-and-red patterned, skin-tight, suit with a white collar. The young woman's face is covered in white clown makeup with ruby-red lipstick and a domino mask; but this mask still allowed you to see her striking blue eyes. To top off the outfit, Harley wore a two-stem jester's hat.

Although he and Harley had been causing mayhem together for years, the criminal clown noticed that Harley had managed to stay fit, as well as dangerously athletic.

Joker's mind ran through this all in a flash, and once it was over, he was reminded of his ire.

"They're your pets Harl', ones if I recall you begged for, promising that you'd take care of them!"

Harley let out a disgruntled huff as she walked over and snagged the hyenas' collars and began dragging them away, "Well, excuse me for tryn' to make things a little more homey, puddin'."

Once the whining mammals were out of the way Joker turned his gleaming red eyes back to the bright TV screen and raised the volume so to better hear the woman on it. She seemed to be answering someone else' question.

" _ _That's right Tom, Dr. Penelope Young, head R &D at Simtech, is heading to Jump City where this year's annual World Medicine Conference will be taking place."__

Joker watched as a small box faded into view in the upper-right corner of the screen and the image of a young woman filled the space. She was young, looking to be roughly in her late twenties, and had her auburn hair done up in a bun. The reporter started speaking again, drawing Jokers attention away from the image.

" _ _Rumor has it that Dr. Young has been working on an edited version of her Titan formula; the one she's been creating for the military's 'Super Soldier' project. However, this new brand is meant to be used in the restoration of muscle tissue in those suffering from sarcopenia by rapidly replacing the muscle tissue lost with newer, healthier fibers."__

For the second time during the broadcast, Joker's thoughts were turned away from the reporter on screen, and inward to his own thoughts. The deranged clown remembered researching the Titan formula, after catching wind of its creation some time ago and studying the chemical's effect on the human body.

The pasty-faced villain was shocked to find, almost immediately, just how similar in structure Titan was to Venom; the formula his fellow villain Bane was known to use. However, upon closer inspection, Joker noticed that Titan's formula had noticeable gaps where Venom's didn't; mainly with how the drug would blend with the recipient's natural DNA structure.

Titan failed in many of those regards in its earlier stages. Since then Joker kept tabs on the Titan formula, and watched as it stabilized into a much less dangerous drug. Unfortunately, it still failed at keeping its subject from losing their mind during the procedure. Joker soon returned his attention back to the TV when he noticed they were still talking about Dr. Young.

" _ _...believe this version will be easier to control. Dr. Young assures worried citizens that this newer, more civilian-level drug has been diluted to such a degree that there will be a minimal risk with taking what she has dubbed TN-1. We now go to Jump, where Tina Neto will be covering the conference in person."__

The screen switched over, from the news room to another woman; this one an older looking woman with raven-black hair and dressed in a pants suit. She was standing along the shoreline of a lake, the sun setting down for the day, and behind her was an island with a giant 'T' tower.

" _ _Thanks Marisa, I'm here in Jump City waiting for the beginning of the conference which will begin two days from now."__

" _ _Now Tina," came the disembodied male voice of Tom, "would you mind telling the folks at home just where it is your standing?"__

 _ _The woman replied, "Certainly Tom. I'm standing alongside the bank of the Titan river, aptly named because, as you can see behind me, this city is home to the Teen Titans, and that over there is their tower."__

 _ _Tom's voice came through again, "The Teen Titans, now isn't that the same group that's lead by Gotham's former Boy Wonder?"__

Joker's eyebrows lifted high into his hairline at that piece of news. While it was true the clown hadn't seen hide nor hair of the brightly-colored sidekick in quite a while, he just assumed the boy had died in the line of duty; especially with how much more brutal Batman's beatings had become lately. Now to hear that the mouthy little runt was alive, and playing superhero in another city no less, gave the Joker a fun idea.

Originally, the Joker had already planned to visit Jump as a way to catch a break from Batman and get his hands on the Titan formula, but now, now he had another goal in mind.

 _ _'If Robin thinks he's ready to play in the big leagues, who better to be his true test than Joker?'__ he thought to himself with excitement.

Turning is head away from the television and towards the doorway to his right Joker called out, "Harley, pack your bags, we're going on a trip!"

* * *

 ** **[NEW AUTHOR'S NOTE]****

 ** **I kind of decided to edit and revise some stuff in this story. Hope that's okay! ...Actually, I don't think it needs it, but I do want to make it sound a lot better! :)****

 ** **And like I said before, I AM basically using the concept of "Batman: Arkham Asylum", but with major tweaks! And I'll say it again; who doesn't want to see this type of concept crossed with Teen Titans? I sure would! :)****

 ** **Anywho, I AM writing more of this story as I speak, so no worries! However, chapters will be done when they're done. ;)****

 ** **Keep on rocking everybody! :D****

 ** **-TSP****


	2. New Company for the Wicked

****[Note: I wrote the first parts, and Young Napoleon22 written the last scene. ;) ]****

 ** **Just to let you know, season 5 didn't happen. To be truthfully honest, that season was kind of pointless(Young Napoleon22 thinks so as well.). :P****

* * *

 ** **Chapter 2****

* * *

Sunlight began hitting the windows in the early morning, lightening the dark room that belongs to the Teen Titan's female dark bird.

As soon as the light hit Raven's face, her closed eyelids fidgeted a bit, and she slowly opened her violet eyes. Letting her eyes adjust to the light, she sat up and stretched, adjusting herself while she's at it. She combed a part of her short purple hair behind her right ear. She sat there on her bed in thought…

…She sighed.

' _ _Why am I still so hooked up on this?'__ Raven thought, wondering how this even began…

…Oh, wait. Now she remembers.

It happened ever since Robin and Starfire __finally__ hooked up about a month ago after the events in Tokyo…

Raven took a deep breath, __'I'm happy for them…I really am.'__

She tossed her covers out of the way, exposing her black pajama shorts and dark blue sleeveless shirt. She let her beautifully toned legs hang over the edge of her circular bed, and let her feet touch the carpet of her room.

She sat there, deep in thought at the time being…

…Raven frowned, feeling a tad annoyed. It was a good thing she was more in control of her powers now after she defeated her father…

…Which she had to thank a certain Boy Wonder for…

Raven grunted loudly, "Enough of this." she muttered to herself. She got up from her bed and walked over to her closet to get one of her black leotards for the day. Changing into one of them, she grabbed her dark blue cloak from her gothic looking coat tree and wrapped it around her. Before she pulled up her hood, she stopped. She hadn't really looked at herself to see what she looked like…

…she could check herself in the mirror for just a bit…

Normally she wouldn't care what she looked like, but she figured she had to give out a good image to the kids. Ever since her father was beaten and now that she can control her powers, she's been behaving more like an ordinary girl…well, per-say. She was still stoic, and of course, there are her powers that are linked to her emotions, but without her father's influence, she can actually…well, kind of, __feel__ …also, stuff that she thought was pointless before, actually made sense to her…in a way. She wasn't going to primp up at all anytime soon, however, but she does want to look okay.

Decision made, she went to her bathroom to check herself out. She studied her face and hair in the wide mirror. Her pale complexion shone like the beauty of the moon, but her hair still had a little bit of bed hair. Sighing, she pulled out a drawer to get a comb out and started brushing her short hair.

Once she fixed her hair, she looked at herself in the mirror to see how she looks. She gave out a small smile.

' _ _You look pretty decent. Maybe you'll catch Robin's…' s__ he scowled. __'Seriously?'__

She shook her head with a heavy sigh. Why is she even __thinking__ about her leader that way? Sure, she did respect him as a great leader, and he did save her from the depths of Hell, and he was handsome in his mysterious way, but…

Raven put a hand on her forehead and sighed in irritation, covering the chakra on her head.

So…it was just a crush. An innocent crush. Big deal. It doesn't mean anything. Crushes come and go…

Besides, Robin likes Starfire, and they're together. She really __is__ happy for them…

…Really…

Raven looked at herself in the mirror.

'… _ _Did he forget what he did for me?'__

She shook her head and left her bathroom. She can't act selfish. She was happy for them; she __smiled__ at them finally being together for goodness sakes!

…But she felt jealousy…and a little bit of betrayal.

' _ _But it was bound to happen…Cyborg and Beast Boy knew it was bound to happen, and I did too…so why can't I…'__

Raven took a deep breath and let it out, muttering, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos…Azarath Metrion Zinthos…Azarath Metrion Zinthos…"

She stood in her sunlit room to compose herself, chanting that calming mantra…once she felt at ease in her mind, she turned her head towards the nightstand next to her bed.

…She thought about it…

She went to her nightstand to open one of the drawers to get out a little dark blue book with a lock on it. Raven stared at it for a good while, still contemplating whether or not she could use it to write something right now…

She got the pen out of the book's spine and turned on the lamp on her nightstand. She sat on her bed and crossed her legs, unclasping the lock of the book. Looking at the blank pages, Raven wondered what to write…

Raven has been given a diary as a gift from Starfire after the ordeal with her father, the redheaded alien feeling it would be a good stress reliever and to express her emotions a lot better…and in ways, it actually did help. During that time and the entirety of the month after their mission in Tokyo, she's been writing out certain things, on what happened yesterday, today, and how it affects her. She even wrote about her growing crush towards Robin. She didn't say much in it, just the occasional praise, like his bravery and selflessness…

Thinking of what to say in the diary, Raven began writing;

 _ _Dear Diary,__

She still feels weird writing that every time she writes an entry. She's basically writing a message to a small notebook. Shrugging it off, she continued;

 _ _Just decided to write something here…actually, I need to vent. I can't stop thinking about Robin and Starfire's relationship. I've written about this topic before in an earlier entry, but…I think it's really getting to me for some reason. I want to be happy for them, I really do, but…'__

She stopped…she continued writing.

 _ _Is it selfish for me that I want that? What they have? To be loved…by him? …By Robin? Only Robin?__

… _ _I don't know what's wrong with me. IS there something wrong with me? I keep thinking about him…how he smiles…how he's wise…how he's brave…__

… _ _Actually, what IS wrong with me? He must've liked me at one point, right? I don't get it…I mean, he saved me…he believed in me…we have a bond…I basically know who he is, kind of…but he still chose Starfire…his light…I suppose that's why he picked Starfire…because she was his light in his dark world.__

… _ _I really don't know. There's nothing I can do about it, though. They're together, and it would be self-centered of me to get in the way of that. I don't want to do that to Starfire, and if Robin doesn't feel that way, then…that's fine.__

Raven decided to stop there, closing the book, snapping the lock shut, and slipping the pen back in the book's spine. She sat there, book still in her hands as she stared at it…

"…It's fine." She said to herself in reassurance…although, she couldn't tell if it helped her or not.

She put her diary back into the drawer of her nightstand and went over to her door to exit out of her room.

* * *

It was still early in the morning, probably 6:10 AM or so. Raven was the only one in the den/kitchen, or otherwise known as the living area. She went over to the kitchen to prepare some boiling water in a teapot for her herbal tea, and to get a mug out of the cabinet by using her powers. As soon as she turned on the stove and the water was beginning to boil in the teapot, the entrance doors to the living area slid open, as their fearless leader Robin came through with a newspaper in hand.

Raven turned her head to the noise, and her eyes widened in surprise at Robin's sudden appearance. Thankfully, he didn't notice her expression, as he looked a little groggy – that and she was wearing her hood up-, so she quickly went back to her monotonous façade. She doesn't know why she would be a little surprised; they were the only two in the team who wake up this early.

' _ _Come on Raven, get it together!'__ Raven thought in slight irritation but kept her stoic expression.

"Hey, Raven." Robin said tiredly as he passed her.

"Hey." Raven greeted in her usual dull tone.

Robin went to turn on the coffee maker that he prepared last night. "Had a good sleep?" he asked, making small talk.

Raven smirked, "Yep." This is their usual routine sometimes; they like to make small talk, even if it's just asking questions.

Robin nodded with a small smile of his own and sat on a barstool near the kitchen's bar, reading the front of the newspaper and waiting for the coffee to be made.

As Raven stood there waiting for her water to boil, she decided to make small talk as well and said, "Did you sleep well?"

Robin looked up from his paper and turned his head to Raven, offering her another smile, "I actually did. Thanks for asking."

"Hmm." Raven hummed.

' _ _Probably thinking about Starfire while he slept.'__ Raven thought bitterly. She blinked at that thought that came into her head. She slightly shook her head. _ _'Stop it! You're not jealous, you're__ not _ _!'__

Letting herself steer her thoughts away from Robin, she focused on the teapot.

Somewhat comfortable silence followed…

After a couple of minutes, Raven's teapot was whistling. She got her mug, and carefully using her powers, lifted up the teapot to pour the steaming water into the mug. Taking the teabag, she inserted it in the water, letting it simmer.

Robin hums in interest as he looks at the paper. "The World Medicine conference is being held here at Jump tomorrow."

Raven turned her head to look at Robin, wondering what made him say that out loud, "Yeah…?"

"They're making a less dangerous version of a super soldier serum called TN-1. The formula they use for the super soldier serum is named Titan." Robin explained.

Raven raised an eyebrow, "Titan? I'm guessing they didn't name that after us."

Robin smirked, "Nope. It was developed in Gotham…" he didn't add anything after that.

She sensed a slight forlornness in Robin when mentioning his home city of Gotham. Like she stated in her diary, Raven knows who Robin is…sort of. When she went into his mind during the Slade hallucinogen ordeal, she saw images, images of two people, man and woman, looking like they were falling to their deaths in a circus trapeze act. The next image was a cave…of swarming bats.

Raven can only come to two conclusions; the cave is his ex-mentor, the Batman's hideout…she would think. It seemed like a pretty obvious place to set up a hideout for a superhero named after a bat.

The other conclusion that was the most revealing was that these two people that fell to their deaths were probably Robin's parents…

…Richard Dick Grayson's parents…

Not only she saw those vague images, but she accidentally learned his name…Richard…

…It was a nice name. That was the only tidbit she really knows about Robin.

She never told her leader about founding out his identity; she pretty much kept it to herself. Mostly because she didn't know how Robin will react to her knowing…although, she has to tell him sooner or later. She couldn't keep this secret forever. And of course she never shared this information with anyone, she respect his privacy too much for that. She also never revealed this bit of info in her diary - she wouldn't be that careless. Actually, besides Starfire, Raven never revealed anyone that she even had a diary. She couldn't let Beast Boy go snooping around her stuff…which she'll murder him if he even tries.

Back to the subject at hand, Raven felt a dejected feeling radiating off of Robin once he mentioned Gotham. She doesn't really know what it could be that made him feel that way…was it probably homesickness? Or something else…he never did reveal his days with Batman to any other of his teammates…

Should she ask him what's wrong? Would that be too straightforward?

Raven decided to just go for it. Robin could use more than just small talk.

"Do you ever miss it there?"

Robin stopped reading the newspaper for a moment and turned to Raven while he sat on his barstool. "What now?"

"Do you ever miss it there?" Raven repeated, twirling her teabag in her mug of hot water. She turned her head to Robin, "…Gotham?"

Robin blinked at the question. He was about to open his mouth but closed it. He turned back to his paper that he was reading.

Raven frowned, __'Well good job Raven. Now you upset him.'__ "I'm…sorry, I-"

"Sometimes."

Now it was Raven's turn to blink, "What?" she asked, stopping her twirling teabag motion

"Sometimes…" Robin said, reading the open newspaper.

The sound of the coffee being done made itself known.

Hearing it, Robin laid the newspaper down and got up from his barstool. He went to the counter and got a mug out of the cabinet, grabbing the coffeepot and pouring the caffeinated beverage into the mug.

Raven then realized she was still staring at her leader. Embarrassed, she turned away to look at the tea that would be now a little flavorful. Putting both hands together on the mug, she gingerly sipped the tea.

It seemed Robin took a sip of his coffee as well, preferring it black.

More comfortable silence between the two as they had their sip of their hot drinks…

"Don't miss the criminals there, though," Robin added. "Compared to the ones we have here, the ones in Gotham are more brutal."

Raven turned her head to Robin once more. "…How brutal?"

Robin narrowed his eyes as he stared straight ahead at the backsplash, "…Slade-brutal."

She looked at her leader in wonder. __'How can one young man endure so much?'__

"…If you don't mind me asking…who was the most brutal?" Raven questioned, hoping it didn't hit a nerve.

Thankfully, it didn't, as he simply said, "The Joker."

Raven blinked, "The one that looks like a clown?"

Robin nodded, "There are others that are just as bad…but I can say that he's truly the worst of the bunch."

"…Hm…" Raven decided to let that be it as she turned to her slightly steaming mug of tea.

They were silent once again for a few seconds, until Robin said, "You might like the architecture there, though."

Raven turned to Robin, "Really?" she asked.

He shrugged, "It has a very old Gothic style, hence the name 'Gotham'." He turned to her with a smile.

' _ _What a beautiful smile.'__ Raven thought absentmindedly. Her eyes widened just a bit as she quickly turned away from her leader and back to her tea, not letting him see her tiny blush.

Robin raised a slight eyebrow, wondering what made Raven reacted like that. Thinking that it was just Raven being Raven – which he respects –, he just smiled again and went back to drinking his coffee.

…Actually, he needs to ask Raven something.

"Hey, Raven?" Robin spoke up, causing Raven to look back at him.

"Yeah?" she said, wondering what's on Robin's mind.

"…Before the rest of the team wakes up, I want to talk to you about something…"

"…About what?"

"About Starfire and I."

Raven eyes widened. Thank goodness she controlled her shock before she broke something.

"…Is...everything alright?" she asked, having the tiniest hope that maybe it wasn't. __'Stop it.'__

"Oh, we're doing fine, it's just…" Robin paused, "…well…during this month since we've been together, Star's been…kind of clingy."

"Clingy? Clingy how?" Actually, Raven knew how clingy Starfire was; she noticed. When they weren't fighting any villains, she seems to always wrap her arms around Robin with no shame.

"Well…I don't think Star has ever been in a relationship before, so she always clings onto me…constantly."

"Hmm…" Raven hummed in agreement as she nodded.

"I mean, I find it sweet, but…I really don't want to be held onto all the time. But I can't tell her that, cause I'm afraid I'll offend her."

' _ _Why is he telling me this? Shouldn't he be telling Cyborg about his love-life instead of me…?'__

"So…" Robin continued, "…I just thought…you know, since you're a girl…"

' _ _Oh…so that's why.'__

Robin used his free hand to rub the back of his head, "Um…how do I tell Starfire to…you know, tone it down a little bit?"

Raven wished he would've gone to someone else about this besides her. How could she help? It's bad enough that she has a crush on her leader and that he's dating her friend, but now he's asking love advice from her.

She thought of what to say, all the while trying hard to not feel pained while doing so. __'Darn it Robin, why must you do this to me?'__

"Raven?" Robin asked.

"I'm thinking." Raven said simply. She stood there, trying to find the best way to help him out, even if it hurts her in the end.

' _ _It's for the best. They're good for each other…and you're not getting in the way of that.'__

Raven chose her words carefully, "Maybe…when she does it…you can patiently tell her not to do it too much? Like…just be yourself?"

Robin blinked dumbfounded, "Um…"

Raven looked down at her tea and blushed a tiny bit. __'Well…that was great advice.'__

"…Hm…" Robin hummed; looking down at his coffee as he thought about it. "…That could work."

Raven looked up at Robin in surprise, "R-really?" __'Ugh, don't stutter!'__

Robin looked up at the dark bird with a kind smile, "Yeah. I can probably do that."

"Oh…well…good," Raven said as she looked down at her tea again.

Robin nodded, "Thanks, Raven."

"Don't mention it." __'Really, please don't.'__

They stood there for a while with their hot beverages in their hands, Robin taking a sip of his coffee as well as Raven with her tea…

Seeing that there is nothing left to say, she turned around to walk off, until Robin stopped her by saying, "Actually Raven…that's not really what I was going to ask. There's some…other stuff that I want to talk to you about that involves Starfire."

Raven turned to Robin as she blinked, "Okay…"

"Um…" Robin faltered, but kept going, "Well, the thing about it is…" he sighed, "Okay, look, I love Star. It's just that…she's…kind of __needy__. Needy of me, you know?"

Raven nodded, telling him that she understood. "I have noticed that about Starfire." And it was true, she has been quite needy lately with Robin. Whenever the whole gang was in the tower, she would show affection towards her leader, always planting kisses on Robin's face and giving him surprise hugs. But most of the time her affection would turn possessive. It would seem that Starfire was paranoid in thinking that girls will try to steal Robin away from her, and she displays that in public, clinging onto his arm all the while shooting an occasional glare at them.

Which was another reason Raven couldn't even try to confess to Robin; she would be hurting her and Starfire's friendship.

"Yeah…and, um…" Robin continued, "I just…I just need my space. I mean, I know, it's been a month, but…she's kind of wearing me down a bit. And…well, I don't want to say I need a break or anything, because we're just now dating and all of that, but…" he looked down at his coffee…after a second, he heaved a sigh and glanced up at Raven, "Do you think I'm being shallow by wanting to take a little break from Star so early?"

Raven stared at him in shock. Did that really came out of Robin's mouth?

Is this happening right now? Could this be a sign of fate? Does she still have a chance?

…Wait, what was she __thinking__?

"Um…" __'No, I can't do that to Starfire…or to Robin.'__ She just has to help out her leader with this dilemma…like she said to herself, it was for the best. "Well…not particularly. I mean…you…still love her, don't you?"

"I do," Robin answered, nodding.

Raven lowered her head so he couldn't see her bothered face, "…I can…kind of understand where you're coming from. Star is kind of possessive when it comes to you…" She raised her head up at Robin, "I think…" she sighed, "Look, you can't break her heart like that. Like you said, she's never been in a relationship before. She'll be confused. Even if it is a short break, she'll wonder what she did wrong. Star is a very emotional person."

Robin groaned with his hand on his head, "I know…it's just…maybe I can teach her on how proper couples act. She does like learning about Earth culture."

"That could work." Raven nodded. __'Please let this be done…'__

Robin smiled, "Yeah…that could. …Thanks, Raven."

Raven had a small, but slightly forced smile on her lips. "No problem."

 _ _SHWING!__

"Morning, ya'll!" came the voice of Cyborg.

As if on cue, Robin and Raven turned to the open doors to see their three other teammates, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Starfire, coming into the living area.

"What's happenin', dudes?" Beast Boy said jovially.

"Good morning Raven," Starfire greeted her friend with a bright smile. She floated past her and went to Robin, linking her arms around his arm, "and good morning to you too, __Robin__." Starfire said flirtatiously with a kiss on the cheek, making Robin flushed bashfully.

Raven quickly turned away again, sipping her tea a little hastily now. __'It__ doesn't __bother you…'__

"Seriously? Are you two still going to keep greeting each other this way every morning?" Beast Boy said with a roll of his eyes, "Come on guys, it was cute before, but now it's getting old."

"Aw come on, BB, don't harass the couple." Cyborg said to the green boy, "But now that we're all up, how about I cook up some of my famous flapjacks?"

"Sounds great Cy," Robin said with a smile.

"Oh yes! The flappy-jacks would be most wonderful to eat!" Starfire said joyfully as she hugs Robin's arm a little tighter and nuzzled her face onto his shoulder.

"Well, you go on ahead Cy with your egg __massacre__." Beast Boy said emphasized, "But I'm going to fix me some good wholesome tofu-cakes!"

"Uh…okay, sure," Cyborg said casually with a shrug. "What do you say, Rae?" he asked Raven with a big smile.

"…Sure." Raven said distractedly, trying to ignore Starfire getting a little too close to Robin.

Cyborg raised a human brow. That answer sounded a little plain, even for Raven. He thought she would be at least a __little__ excited. She always liked his pancakes! He shrugged, thinking it was just Raven being herself. "Alright then! Flapjacks it is!"

Robin, Starfire, and Raven all went over to the table while Cyborg prepared to make the pancake batter, while Beast Boy was preparing his own tofu breakfast. As the three of them walked/floated, Starfire was still clinging onto Robin's arm.

"Um, Star?" Robin said, cringing, "No offense, but, you're kind of cutting off the blood flow of my arm."

"Oh! I am sorry Robin! Am I holding on to your arm too tightly again?" Starfire asks innocently, releasing her grip on it.

"Uh, yeah, but no worries! Honest mistake." Robin said with a smile as they sat themselves down near the table.

Raven just silently sipped her tea, ignoring their interaction as she sat herself down as well.

After a few minutes have passed - Cyborg and Beast Boy making each of their version of breakfast, while Starfire conversed with Robin on having a wonderful dream where he saved her from a vicious creature on her planet, leaving Raven to just quietly sit there. –, a call resonated in the room, the young superheroes turning their attention to the huge flat-screen TV that has the words, "INCOMING CALL".

Robin raised an eyebrow, got up from his seat, and dashed over to the screen to push the button to connect the call.

Instantly, the flashing signal was replaced with the image of a man none of the Titans recognized. From what they could tell, since he was sitting behind a desk, he was a man of average height with a bit of a weight problem. The man was dressed in a brown suit and a cream-colored dress shirt, and a black tie. Robin's masked eyes took in his face as well; he had a double chin, wore thick glasses, and had a head of dark-brown hair trimmed into a bowl-cut.

After taking in the man's appearance Robin decided it would be a good idea to find out what the man wanted, "Um, can we...help you?"

Beast Boy and Cyborg had to hold in a snicker when the man jumped in his seat and stuttered out a reply, "O-Oh, yes, e-excuse me I've never used something like this before. Am I correct in guessing that you five are the Teen Titans?"

"No, we're the __other__ group of teenage superheroes that live in Jump City," Beast Boy muttered sarcastically to Cyborg under his breath.

Robin heard his team-mate's remark, but seeing as the man on-screen hadn't, chose not to reprimand the changeling; this time. Instead, the spiky-haired youth just answered, "Yes, that's right, but who are you and how did you get this number? Only the mayor and the police chief are supposed to call us on this line."

"Again, excuse me, but my name is Dr. Elliot Jordan and I am in fact calling you from the Mayor's office...or, at least, from the office of his secretary. You see, I'm calling because I wanted to ask you and your team if you would be willing to work as part of a security detail for the World Medicine Conference?" Dr. Elliot replied.

Some of the Titans, like Beast Boy and Starfire, had no idea what the guy was talking about; since they didn't watch the news. Others, like Cyborg, were confused. But Raven, after hearing from Robin about the Titan serum, might know what the man that's contacted them was talking about. Still, he's asking for protection from them for a medical conference? Raven voiced this confusion, "Not that we're saying no, but, why do you feel the need to have a team of superheroes acting as security for something like a medical conference?"

Dr. Elliot turned his steel-gray eyes in the empath's direction, "Because many of the medicines being unveiled are derived from weapons created for the country's military, and we fear that there are some criminals who would set their sights on capturing one of, if not many, of the professionals taking part in the conference and forcing them to re-create the original weapon."

"And you think that one of those criminals may be above your regular securities pay grade, right?" Cyborg's voice called from the kitchen area.

"Yes, that's exactly right, but with the Teen Titans on guard I have faith that there won't be any trouble at all."

 _ _'This guy's__ _ ** _ **definitely**_**_ _ _not from Jump City,'__ the Titan's thought as they each mentally rolled their eyes.

Robin thought about the man's request. As hero's, it was their duty to protect the lives of the ordinary citizens, but could they afford to take this time off from duty? In a sense, it felt to Robin as if he and his team would be slacking off, not doing their job, but as he peered up at the screen Robin's masked eyes took in the hopeful gleam that shines through Dr. Elliot's eyes and came to a decision.

"Alright, we'll help you, but your security detail needs to understand that my team and I are in charge; they answer to us."

Dr. Elliot nodded his head swiftly in acceptance to the boy wonder's terms and replied, "Yes, yes, of course. Thank you very much Titan's, your services are much appreciated." And with that, the screen cut to black, and the five teens were left to return to their breakfast.

* * *

"I can't believe this, we should have been here hours ago, but __no;__ you just __had__ to look around at that antique fair!" cried the unhappy voice of Joker as he drove into Jump City.

Harley, who sat in the passenger seat, turned to look at the crazy clown and said, "But Puddin', look at the nice little lamp I found for our new home," she said with a wave to the backseat of the car.

Joker didn't even bother; instead, he mumbled rude curses under his breath and continued to direct his stolen automobile through the slightly empty streets of Jump's less populated slums. As the car moved Joker's gleaming, red eyes scanned left to right searching for a place he and Harley could set up shop. Trouble is, there didn't seem to be anywhere big enough!

"And you're saying that you can't believe me! I still can't believe you left my poor babies at home with some incompetent henchmen!" Harley said as she pouted.

"Pfft! Oh please, Harley." Joker said as he was looking around for a place, "Those two fleabags will be fed enough through the next few days! And if they run out of food, well, then the henchmen are smart enough to improvise on what to feed them…you can even say that they could lend Bud and Lou a hand!" Joker grinned and chuckled at the thought of Bud and Lou ripping his henchmen apart for food.

"Ewww…" Harley said, kind of disgusted by that. "I don't know too much about that. I'm trying to feed my babies nutrition, and those knuckleheads are probably too fat for my darlings! Way too much cholesterol."

Joker drowned her out, still looking for a potential building. Just as the Clown Prince of Crime was getting ready to turn the car around and search a different area, he stopped, and while ignoring his passenger's annoying complaints, he looked upon the magnificent structure that sat before him...it was perfect.

It was an old, abandon theater; the kind one would go and see a play in. However, unlike the theaters in Gotham, this one was only two stories tall. A testament to how little the arts mattered to the citizens of Jump. The building was made up of plastered walls, their once forest-green paint job having been aged to a near inky black, and there was a ticket window that sat between the two revolving doors. Even in its day one could tell, with the buildings lack of elegant arch ways and size, it wasn't much of a masterpiece.

Which made it all the more perfect as a base of operation as far as Joker was concerned.

 _ _'Don't want anyone finding me too soon and ruining all my fun,'__ he thought to himself as he pulled the car up to one of the broken parking meters. Looking over to his passenger Joker said, "Lucy, we're __home__! Hahahaha!"

It didn't long to take the pasty-faced family of two to unpack, and once inside, they learned that what the building lacked in height it made up for in internal size. Most likely to make room for the stage and the concessions in the lobby.

"Oooh, I've always wanted to be part of a theater troupe, and have my five minutes of fame on stage," Harley squeaked in delight as she twirled passed the usher stands. The Joker just mumbled to himself about how her terrible singing was a weapon of destruction even __he__ wouldn't subject people too as he followed the young woman towards the back.

When Joker finally pushed through the double doors that lead to the actual theater Harley was already up on stage and doing a botched job of ' _ _Give My Regards To Broadway'__. Thankfully for the crazy clown's ears, the former psychiatrist's singing ended when they heard shouting from above…

"Alright, who's the cludge-head that woke me up from my nap!?"

Immediately the two clowns turned their eyes skyward, towards the upper-deck seating, and were surprised to see a young boy sitting on the railing. He was a shorty, probably only coming up to Joker's knee, and looked like the cue ball of a pool table with his bald head. The youngster was dressed in a green jumper, like one would find on a city worker and a pair of gloves and boots that covered his hands and feet respectively.

Once baldy finished rubbing the sleep from his eyes he turned the beady pupils towards the stage...and then they inflated to three times their size when he got a look at who he'd just yelled at.

"Holy mother of sludge! Y-You...and h-him...you-you're...GUYS GET IN HERE!"

Joker and Harley listened as a set of thundering footsteps came their way. The criminal clown stepped aside as a large male in a yellow and black uniform, followed by a young girl with pink hair, strolled through the doors.

The girl known as Jinx cried out, "What Gizmo, I was in the middle of planning our next job, so this better be good."

Gizmo's only response was to point, wide-eyed, in the direction of the pair of pale-faced villains. Jinx and the large guy, known as Mammoth, who hadn't noticed Joker when they walked in, turned their eyes to where the tech genius was pointing...and felt their jaws drop.

Before the Joker could get anymore creeped out by the three teens star-gazed looks, Harley spoke up with clear agitation in her voice, "Mistah' J. I thought you said you'd reserved this place just for us. What's with these pipsqueaks?"

This seemed to shake the trio from their reverie as Jinx stepped forward and shook the Joker's gloved hand, "Oh my gosh! W-we're sorry if our being here was unexpected, but, you and Harley are more than welcome to use our home as you see fit, Mr. Joker! It'd be our pleasure to aid a villain as legendary as you."

" _ _Your__ home? What are a bunch of brats doing skulking around in an abandon theater," Joker questioned after forcefully pulling his hand away. "Who the heck are you people?"

Gizmo by this time had made his way down towards his fellow team-mates and the three posed together as Jinx announced, "We're the H.I.V.E Trio, Jump City's most dangerous super-villain team! Jinx!"

"Mammoth!" the big guy announced.

"And Gizmo!" the short boy said.

"Hoohah!" the trio did another set of poses, looking quite silly while doing so.

…A long, awkward, silence followed…

Joker stared at the three teens for a moment, before waving his hand dismissively, and walking over towards Harley saying, "Eh, never heard of ya'."

But as he walked up the stage, Joker paused and had a thought. __'Wait a second…'__

If these three delinquents live in this city, then they might have faced Robin's little team of do-gooders. He could use that to his advantage and learn a little bit about the boy wonder's new team. He does need all the help that he can get. In fact, maybe he could have even __more__ help with the villains in this city.

And once he gets the Titan formula… _ _yes__ …they would __all__ soon make good test subjects. Joker smiled wickedly.

For a moment, the trio stood there with their shoulders slumped and dejected, before the Clown Prince of Crime turned to them and spoke up again, "But, if what you three said are true, I may just have some use for you…if you're interested?"

The trio perked up and simultaneously smiled widely.

"Oh absolutely!" said Jinx beaming, "We'll do as best as we can to help you, Mr. Joker!"

"Splendid!" Joker said as he chuckled evilly. He clasped his hands together and asked them with an evil grin. "Now, what do you three know about these __Teen__ __Titans__?"

* * *

 **Read, review and keep on rocking everybody! :D**

 **-TSP**


	3. Controlling One's Emotions

****[EDIT: 7/6/2017]****

 ** **Sorry for the terrible chapter title, I couldn't think of anything at that point. D:****

* * *

 ** **Chapter 3****

* * *

The sun shined onto Jump City. People were now either waking up, getting ready for work, or already busy putting in hours. This was no less true for the city's resident superheroes.

Over in Titan's Tower, after the call from Dr. Elliot, they were inside the training hall. Each teen was pushing themselves to the limit so as to be ready for the next threat. They couldn't afford to have another Terra incident.

Beast Boy, the team's resident changeling, had a special training course designed just for him. The obstacles forced him to think fast about which animal would best be suited for the task, but there was a catch, he couldn't use the same animal twice during the same run.

This forced the youngest Titan to move out of his 'core' group of animals and extend his repertoire. Currently, Beast Boy was using a lemur, as opposed to a typical monkey, to traverse across a jungle-gym and come out on the other side. From there the green-skinned youth transformed into an eel to race through the pool that waited beyond the jungle-gym.

While the changeling made good time on his training, in another section of the gym Starfire was busy working on her aim.

Robin had, gently, informed her that she __may__ have gotten the __tiniest__ bit sloppy and that it wouldn't hurt to spend some time working on some target practice. After repeatedly assuring the alien princess that she was in fact __not__ being kicked off the team Robin finally got his girlfriend to agree to his suggestion.

So now, Starfire's emerald-green eyes were narrowed in concentration. She watched the numerous targets in front of her warily; her training was more than just standing around and shooting still targets.

No, Starfire's training consisted of her having to shut down moving targets that fired back at her. This allowed her to learn about keeping a clear head in battle, and not letting the heat of the moment cost you your edge. When a few of the targets sent energy bolts at her Starfire nimbly danced out of their paths, the whole time trying to control her breathing and focusing her mind.

Finally, after ducking another shot, Starfire saw her chance. She threw her hand out and sent a neon-green bolt of energy hurtling towards one of her targets. The attack landed squarely in the bulls-eye, and the target went dark before dropping to the floor. Five down, twenty to go.

In the combat room, Cyborg's training was significantly less severe. The former athlete was, like Beast Boy, running an obstacle course. Only this one was more suited to athletic-type training.

The technological teen had invented the course himself, having its primary function being to keep his insides heated and ready to go. He didn't want his mechanical body locking up on him in the middle of a battle after all.

Cyborg ducked and dodged the spinning blades that made up a part of his course; he'd taken a page from gladiatorial training. His human half was sweating heavily, and his mouth was opened wide taking in large gulps of air, as he finished with the blade run and moved on to the next phase.

Sharing the combat room with Cyborg was the Titan's leader; Robin. The spiky-haired teen had removed his cape and was busy sparring with a number of battle-bots he'd created to act as sparring partners. The robots were equipped with knowledge of Robin's own fighting technique, but also, they had small amounts of his mentor's as well. Batman wasn't able to keep __everything__ a secret from Robin.

The boy wonder blocked a right-hook and retaliated with an open palm. Once that bot was knocked aside Robin was quickly engaged by a pair attempting to double team him. The first one went for a leg sweep which the Titan leader avoided, and then the second drone tried to follow-up with a hammer fist. Robin saw this coming though, and he threw up his arms in an 'x'-block...but he'd forgotten about the third robot.

"Argh!" he cried out as he took the full brunt of the attack.

Bot number three came back with a high jump-kick that landed harshly against the unsuspecting hero's back. This caused Robin to stumble forward, and left him unprepared for the next attack; a punch to the gut from bot number one.

Just as the trio was about to converge on the masked teen all at once they were soon blown to pieces by a number of starbolts. The wielder, Starfire, appeared almost instantly by her love's side.

"Robin, are you well? I heard your scream of pain from the other side of the room, and I wished to make sure you were unharmed." the alien girl fretted, "Luckily I managed to dispose of the perpetrators before they could do anymore damage." Starfire finished, her voice holding a sense of pride and accomplishment.

She was unaware of her boyfriend's ticking eyebrow; it had taken him months to put those robots together, what with all the crime he dealt with, and now they were gone.

"Yeah Star," Robin replied, "I'm alright...thanks, I guess."

Next thing he knew, the boy wonder was wrapped up in a hug, and his feet lifted off the ground as the tamaranian princess happily exclaimed, "Oh you are most welcome Robin, I am more than happy to be of assistance to my boy who is more than a friend." She finished with a kiss to the spiky-haired teen's cheek.

Anything else was cut short by the sound of glass shattering. The Titans all looked over to see Raven, surrounded by the remains of her training room's separator.

"Uh...sorry about that. I was trying out a new meditation technique; guess it didn't really work." the dark empath scanned the room, taking in the looks on her teammate's faces, but when she saw Robin wrapped up in Starfire's arms she quickly turned towards the door, "I'm gonna go get some water, I think that technique had some funny side-effects."

With that she quickly, but gracefully, exited the training hall.

Cyborg watched the hooded girl make her exit, his eyes squinted in thought. Raven had been losing control of her powers quite a bit lately; they'd had to replace countless light bulbs the past few weeks. Something was definitely up, and he was gonna get to the bottom of it.

So, turning to his teammate's who were still a little dazed, he said, "Yo guys, I think I need some water too, I had my course set on high speed today so I'm pretty thirsty." with his peace said, the cybernetic teen made his exit as well.

 **000**

' _ _Ugh! Stupid!'__ Raven softly growled as she scolded herself. __'Stop being so hung up on this!'__

Raven continued to walk to the break room to get her water. Maybe something cold down her throat would calm her down. She's been drinking too much herbal tea lately.

Once she's inside the break room, she briskly went to the fridge and opened the fridge to get out a bottled water. Untwisting the cap, she took a swig of the natural clear liquid. Once she was done gulping some water down, she closed her eyes and sighed heavily…

"Alright, what's up?"

Raven's eyes opened and widen at the voice. She turned to it to see none other than Cyborg, who's leaning against the door frame with a raised human eyebrow.

Raven kept her emotionless façade, "What are you talking about?"

"Rae, you've been losing concentration with your powers lately. I thought you can control your powers more easily now that you defeated your father?" Cyborg asked curiously.

"I can. I'm just-I mean, it's just…" Raven faltered there, looking at the floor, "…I haven't been __that__ bad lately…" she was more of trying to reassure herself than convince Cyborg.

Cyborg frowned. He stood straight away from the door frame and said, "Raven…is everything alright with you?"

"Yes. Everything's fine." Raven said as she stood there, eyeing down the water bottle.

Cyborg wasn't buying it. "Raven, next to Robin, you know you can tell me anything, right?"

Raven almost flinched when she heard Robin's name. "Yeah, I know."

"Well then, tell me. What's wrong?" asked Cyborg.

Raven softly swished her water bottle in a circular motion in thought. She seriously was contemplating whether or not she could tell him. What would he think if she told him that she has some stupid crush on their leader?

Cyborg crossed his arms as he stood there in front of the door frame, "You know I'm not moving until you tell me what's wrong. And don't use your powers too; that's cheating. You're not the type to hide stuff from us anymore, Rae. We're your friends, and you can trust us…well, maybe not Beast Boy, but still. Besides, I can't waste any more money on light bulbs." He said jokingly.

Raven cracked a small smile on that, but it soon weakened. She took another deep breath.

' _ _Should I tell him…tell him that I like Robin? Should I just…admit it?'__ She rubbed her face with her free hand.

Cyborg frowned again, "Come on Rae, what is-"

"I like Robin." She mumbled with her hand still on her face.

The mechanical teen blinked. "…What?"

Raven didn't say anything for a moment…she lowered her hand away from her face and stared at Cyborg with determination. "...I __like__ Robin…"

…Cyborg blinked again…the teen uncrossed his arms and shook his head to clear away his shock, "W-wait…you… _ _like__ Robin? As in… _ _like him__ -like him?"

Raven sighed again and glanced at the floor. "…Yes."

Cyborg stared at her in shock, mouth and eyes wide open. "…Whoa." Then he realized… "Oh… _ _oh…__ "

…He's been basically rooting for the other team.

"Aw, Raven, I'm…I'm so sorry, I didn't know," Cyborg said, sincerely apologetic to the dark heroine.

Raven kept looking down at the floor. "It's okay."

"No, no it's not. Man, I-I should've __known__ actually." Cyborg said, feeling ashamed as he shook his head, "Seriously, I mean the guy literally went through __Hell__ to save you. That must've meant a lot to you, didn't it?"

Raven looked back up at her surrogate brother with a melancholy expression. "Yeah…it did…"

Cyborg frowned for the third time, but this time it was full of sympathy.

The empath then shook her head, "You don't have to worry about it though. It's just a crush. A small, insignificant crush."

"It doesn't look like it from the way you've been acting lately with your powers," Cyborg said in concern.

"It's fine. It really is."

They stood there in uneasy silence.

"…Um…stupid question, but, does Robin know that you…like him?" Cyborg asks.

Raven's eyes shifted to her left as she mumbled, "Not as much as Starfire."

Cyborg nodded, "Starfire I can understand. But Robin…man, how can that idiot not realize it?"

Raven sighed and shook her head, "Really, it's okay-"

"Rae, __it's not__." Cyborg said with emphasis on the last two words. Raven looked back at the mechanical teen. He continued, "Raven, you're like a little sister to me. And I don't want to see my little sister suffering or hurt emotionally. Literally, to be exact on that last one."

Raven looked at him with a frown, "Cyborg, I'd rather not ruin what they have. They're…happy." __'At least, that's…kind of true.'__

Cyborg just stared at her, "…But you're not happy."

Raven stood there. She sighed and looked down once more, "Cyborg…"

She felt a heavy hand on her shoulder. She glanced up at the brotherly concern look in Cyborg's eyes, "Raven…first of all, I ain't gonna tell nobody. Secondly…when was the last time you truly smiled?"

Raven looked at him and answered, "When I hugged Robin."

Cyborg nodded with a smile, "You know, I actually…did sense something from you when you hugged him."

Raven's eyes widened, "You did?"

He nodded again, "At the time I thought you were just being a very grateful friend. But, the way you hugged him, you seemed happy… _ _really__ happy."

Raven stared at him for second…she then smiled softly.

Cyborg matched it with one of his own. "You deserve to be happy, Rae." Cyborg grimaced a bit, "And to tell you the truth, Robin and Starfire's relationship __is__ getting kind of out of hand. No offense to Star, but the girl won't stop letting go of Robin, and has become a little possessive lately. I'm starting to feel for the poor guy. I was just supporting them cause I thought they would be happy together. But now that I know about your little crush on our leader, I'm on team RobRae now." Cyborg winked.

Raven raised an eyebrow, "Team RobRae?" she softly chuckled, "What are you, a matchmaker?"

"Hey, at least this robot knows what love is," Cyborg said with good humor.

The dark empath smiled.

Cyborg's expression then turned serious. "Are you thinking of telling him anytime soon?"

Raven's smile went down as she looked unsure. "…No. I can't tell him right now…" She then mumbled, "Not after our talk."

"What's our talk got to do with anything?" Cyborg asked in confusion.

"No, I mean…well, Robin and I had a talk…" Raven started.

"You two talked? About what?" Cyborg raised his human brow in question.

"About…relationships…his and Starfire's relationship," Raven said, feeling bothered as she remembered the conversation.

"What?" Cyborg said in surprise and let go of Raven's shoulder, but soon turned aggravated as he frowned, "Damn it Robin, why are you so stupid!?" he said in a hushed tone as he shook his head in irritation.

"Um…actually…one of the things he was asking me was if it was bad thing to have a break from Starfire."

Cyborg froze at that information, his eyes going wide, "Wait, __seriously__? He said __that__?"

Raven nodded, "Yes…and I gave him some advice," she said with a bothered look on her face.

Cyborg's expression turned poignant. "Aw, man…I'm really sorry that happened, Rae."

Raven stood there, her face still looking bothered… "…Do you…do you think I still have a chance?"

Cyborg's look turned surprised at the question. He then gazed at the floor, looking thoughtful. "Well…Robin's questioning his relationship with Starfire, so I think so. And I know you don't want to go in there admitting it to him real quickly, I'm with you on that." He smiled warmly at his 'little sister'. "I trust you Rae. I know you'll tell him when the time is right. And I'm certain he'll feel the same."

Raven glanced at Cyborg as her expression softens, "Thanks, Cyborg."

Cyborg nodded with an approving smile on his face. "Come here." He opens his arms for a hug.

Raven rolled her eyes. "Cyborg…"

"Come on, you know you want a hug."

Raven relented and gave him a hug, Cyborg lightly patting her back. They let go of their embrace, Raven smiling slightly, while Cyborg grinned back, saying, "Do you want to go back to the training room?"

Raven thought about it. "…I do want to train my powers a little bit more…when Starfire or Robin isn't around."

"Gotcha." Cyborg said with a 'thumbs up'. "Do you want me to 'shoo' off Beast Boy too while I'm at it?"

Raven lightly chuckled. "Oh yes, of course. That would be good too." She looked to her right, "...Actually, tell them that I need absolute concentration for this 'technique' to work. Maybe then they'll get it and leave me alone for a while." She said back at Cyborg with a smirk.

Cyborg smirked as well. "You got it." And with that, he turned around and left Raven alone in the break room.

Raven looked down at her water bottle one more time… "…Everything will be fine." She then took another swig of water.

* * *

"So! Let me see if I've got all of this: There's an alien girl who shoots green energy, is super-strong ** **,**** AND can fly; a green changeling boy that can transformed into any animal; a mechanical young man who's has weaponry installed into him; and a sorceress with dark magic that is linked to her emotions."

"That's about it," Jinx confirmed as Gizmo and Mammoth nodded.

"Hmm… _ _very__ interesting," Joker said with a hand on his chin.

The Joker sat on one of the old theater chairs as the HIVE trio told him and Harley - who's also sitting on one of the theater chairs next to him – about Robin's team of teenage superheroes in front of them. Listening intently, they gave him exact details about how their powers work, all the while letting Joker form a plan in his mind on how to bring down the Boy Wonder and his little team.

"Looks like you'll be having your hands full, Puddin'." Harley said to Joker.

"Hmm…it would seem so," Joker said, now rubbing his chin in thought. "Who would've thought that the Boy Blunder would form such a strong team? It seems like little Robin is doing alright with himself." Joker cracked a sinister grin. "No matter. The only way to deal with this is by using the ol' noggin!"

"Absolutely!" Jinx agreed with enthusiasm. "As I always say to these two knuckleheads over here," she motions to the boys behind her, "tactics and intellect can always bring down the mightiest of foes."

Mammoth looked confused while Gizmo frowned at her.

"You don't always say that," Mammoth said as he scratched his head in puzzlement.

Jinx grimaced, turned around and said anxiously, "Y-yes I do! You two just don't remember!"

" _ _I__ would've remembered it," Gizmo said irritably.

"Shut up Gizmo!" Jinx fumed.

Gizmo crossed his arms and muttered, "Crunging suck up."

Jinx growled.

" _ _Ahem__."

Jinx blinked, a bit of red flush on her face. She turned around quickly to see Joker and Harley looking unimpressed with her authority. Jinx laughed sheepishly, "Um…so, yeah! Uh…" she then thought of something that she neglected to ask. "Oh! Uh…actually, if you don't mind me asking, Mr. Joker and Miss Harley, but what exactly brings you two to Jump City?"

Joker smirked, "Well, since we have ransacked your…" He looked around the place, "… _ _home__ , I guess we can tell you all the little details of what we're doing here." He stood up and straightened his purple suit. "You see kiddies, I'm here for something that has caught my eye for the past few days, something that has a __great__ amount of potential to cause a __lot__ of chaos."

"Oh, you mean the fun stuff?" Gizmo asked with an excited smile.

"Why yes! The __fun__ stuff!" Joker said as he chuckled, "I like your style, kid."

Gizmo grinned and puffed out his chest in pride. Jinx just pouted at him while Mammoth asked, "What kind of chaos are we talking about?"

"Oh, the type that will send everyone running around like chickens with their heads cut off. You know; the natural kind of chaos." Joker said as he went to the HIVE trio, circling around them as he talked, "You see, I've been keeping tabs on a formula that's been developed in Gotham, one that's made by a pharmaceutical scientist that goes by the name of Dr. Penelope Young. She has made a formula drug named Titan – no relation to Robin's team, of course - that helps strengthen the muscle and skin fibers of a person, which makes the average person themselves even stronger than usual. She __was__ using it for a super soldier project for the military, but that didn't really last too long, as she probably thought from the __goodness__ of her heart that she can use this formula to help people out with severe sarcopenia."

"Sarco-what?" Mammoth asked in confusion.

"It's a muscle loss condition, bonehead." Jinx said to Mammoth in annoyance. She turned to Joker with a smile, "Please continue Mr. Joker."

Joker raised an eyebrow as he frowned, "…Rrrright. Anyways, seeing as Dr. Young is going to be here at the World Medicine Conference in your town of Jump City, she'll be advertising this drug. I was here really for business to snatch her and see if she can give me the notes of her formula or if she can just do it for me, but after hearing that ol' Bird Boy is in this city protecting it along with his ragtag team of super-brats, I'm thinking I might need the extra help from the city's resident criminals."

"Wow!" Jinx said with her hands clapped together in front of her, having what looks like stars in her eyes. "We would __SO__ be privileged to be of assistance to you in any way possible, Mr. Joker!"

Feeling a little creeped out by her attitude and gaze, Joker smiled awkwardly, backing away from her. "Um…thanks…I __think__."

Harley, who was getting annoyed at the girl's googly eyes staring at her Joker, decided to intervene as she got up from her seat, "Calm your horses, toots. __My__ Puddin' here needs to plan out what to do to give the little Bird Brain and his friends a run for their money."

' _ _I never thought I'd be so happy to have Harley step in.'__ "That's right, my dear!" Joker said, getting behind Harley as if shielding himself with her body from Jinx's gaze. "Actually, now that I know a little bit of Robin's friends, how about I get to know you three?"

Jinx looked ecstatic, while Mammoth and Gizmo looked excited as well.

"Oh certainly! As you know, my name is Jinx, and I perform spells and other powerful magic!" Jinx announced.

As Mammoth and Gizmo were about to tell them what they can do, Jinx jumped in and told them herself, "Mammoth here is, of course, super strong, hence the name Mammoth, and Gizmo-"

"Hey! I can talk about myself just fine, you know!?" Gizmo exclaimed in annoyance.

" _ _Gizmo__ , I'm __trying__ to be a good hostess __here__." Jinx murmured to the kid genius with gritted teeth.

"Oh, let the kid talk! He interests me the most!" Joker said as he steps away from Harley.

Jinx frowned in dismay while Gizmo grinned smugly and stuck a tongue at the pink haired girl, in which she softly growled at him. Gizmo then started, "As you know, my name is Gizmo, and I'm a technological genius! I can make ANYTHING, neutralizing devices, bombs, all types of cool stuff! You name it, I can create it!"

"Neutralizing devices? __Bombs__? Kid, you're starting to speak my __language__! HAHA!" Joker cackled.

Gizmo beamed, while Jinx rolled her eyes at the boy. Mammoth frowned, feeling dejected on not saying anything about himself.

"In fact, I think I now have the starting blocks of a plan forming in my head already!" Joker said with an evil grin as he rubbed his chin. He turned to Gizmo, "Gizmo, was it? Could you make three bombs and a security nullifying device by the end of the day?"

"Sure can, Mr. Joker! But…why the second thing?" Gizmo asked, curious.

"Simple! If I don't know Robin from ol' Batsy, he probably wants to keep his secrets hidden! And seeing that this Tower could be full of high-tech security, I want to use something to nullify its defenses. Plus, I might as well tell ol' Bird Boy that his __favorite__ clown is in town…when he and his team aren't around. Hey! I made a double rhyme! HAHAHA!" Joker cackled.

"Wow! Cool! Actually, I have a couple of bombs that I have laying around just in case I want to blow something up, but I'll be able to make that other one! And I'll be sure to make that device by the time the afternoon begins! You can count on me, Mr. Joker!" Gizmo said as he saluted with a smile and went to his lab.

Joker chuckled at the excited retreating figure, "That kid's gonna go far."

"So, uh, when you say this Titan formula can make a person stronger, can it also make someone like me stronger as well?" Mammoth asked Joker curiously.

"Why of course!" Joker said to Mammoth, putting an arm around his bulky shoulders. "This stuff makes you tougher, stronger; heck, it could even make you smarter too!"

Mammoth smiled, "I like the sound of that!"

Joker chuckled, patting his shoulder, "I'm sure you do!"

Jinx then shortly approached Joker. "Um excuse me, Mr. Joker?"

Joker turned to the sorceress. "Hmm?"

"If you don't mind me asking, but where are you going to plant these bombs?" Jinx asked, her eyes looking…hesitant?

Joker looked at the pink haired girl to study her a bit. Although she says she wants to help out, her eyes hold a certain hesitation…a hesitation that Joker didn't like one bit. Still, he needs all the help he can get, so he doesn't want to lose her trust as of yet. He has to play it out.

He grinned, "Oh, you don't have to worry your pretty little head on that, Darling." He said, patting Jinx's head. "Besides, I won't be planting them; you and your friends will!"

"R-really?" Jinx asked in surprise. "Oh! W-why thank you, Mr. Joker! It'll be an honor! We'll do our best!" she said with a happy smile.

Joker chuckled again. "That's what I love to hear! Now, do you happen to have a map of this city by any chance?"

"Oh, absolutely! We use it to plan out our crimes and robberies!" Jinx answered as she nodded eagerly.

"Fantastic! Will you be a dear and please bring it to me?"

"Certainly, Mr. Joker! Mammoth could even bring you a table to lay it on!" Jinx said excitedly.

"I can?" Mammoth asked in question, but soon as he saw Jinx's glaring eyes at him, he quickly realized what she was saying, and said, "Oh! Y-yeah! Sure I can!" He soon dashed onto the stage and went somewhere into a room.

"Excuse me for just a moment! Mammoth is kind of clumsy at times, so I need to guide him while he carries that table." Jinx advised to the diabolical couple. She then went and followed Mammoth.

Once she was gone, Harley turned to Joker and said with an envious look, "Well, that Jinx gal certainly is taking a __liking__ to you."

"Oh please, Harley, don't be jealous." Joker said with a smirk directed at her, "I can't help it if I'm __charming__!" he chuckled.

Harley just glared at Joker and huffed, crossing her arms while she looked the other way. Jinx then came back carrying a large map that's rolled up in her hands, as well as Mammoth carrying a large table over his head.

"Okay, set it in front of him, __gently__!" Jinx told Mammoth.

Mammoth did as he was told and set the table in front of Joker, while Jinx then spread the map on the table to let him take a look at it. The blueprint map of the city looked very detailed and provided Joker a good grasp of what the city's layout is.

"Ah, yes, this will do __splendidly__!" Joker said with a smirk.

Jinx beamed, feeling proud of herself. She then remembered something that she and her team forgot to say to Joker and Harley earlier while describing the Teen Titans to them. __'Oh wow! That's right! I definitely need to tell him about this!'__ "Um, Mr. Joker?" Jinx started, "There's also something else that I think you would need to know about the Titans. It involves Robin and the alien girl Starfire."

Joker paused in his map studying and turned to Jinx in interest. "Really?"

Jinx nodded, "Yes! You see, Robin and Starfire are actually now officially a __couple__."

Joker blinked in surprise. " _ _Really__?" He then grinned evilly and started to chuckle darkly, "Well! That's some __very interesting__ information indeed! It seems old Bird Boy has himself a new main squeeze!"

"A new one?" Jinx asked in question, while Mammoth raised a confused eyebrow.

"Oh yes! You see, back then Robin used to have a fling with Batgirl! But from what you're telling me, it would seem he moved on! HAHA!" Joker chuckled, "Either way, I could use this to my advantage!"

"Oh, fantastic! I'm so glad I can be of help!" Jinx said happily.

"Oh yes, Darling! You help me more than you know!" Joker smiled wickedly as he chuckled some more. He then looked at the map again, "Now, in the meantime, I have some questions that involve which locations I want you and your friends to plant these bombs…"

* * *

An hour passed in Titans Tower and Raven was in her meditated state in the training room, trying to calm her mind and emotions down. Cyborg helped her out by letting Robin, Starfire, and Beast Boy exit out of the room to let her try to concentrate. The other Titans, although respecting her wishes, wondered what kind of technique she needs to perform to make them leave the training room. Fortunately for them, as well as Cyborg, the rest of the gang continued training outside, which they installed more hi-tech advanced training obstacle courses.

Raven floated there with her eyes closed, sitting in a crossed legged lotus style position and chanting her mantra. She was trying to get the hang of controlling the emotions that were flooding her mind as of now, which made the absence of Robin and Starfire(as well as Beast Boy) a little easier for her to handle at this point.

As she floated there saying her mantra, she was focusing on those two string of emotions that were bothering her the most; jealousy and love. She didn't know which emotion was hard to control; she would think love, as it's what got her in this situation in the first place, but jealousy always keeps rearing her head back in, letting her think negative thoughts about Robin and Starfire's relationship.

She needs to meditate some more. Maybe she can try to focus on jealousy first…that emotion seems to bother her the most.

Then she felt another emotion far off. One that wasn't hers…

Concern?

' _ _Who could that be?'__ Raven thought as her face flinched, her eyes still closed. She listened closely to the footsteps, seeing if she could recognize them…

They were heavy…but not heavy enough to be Cyborg's…

The footsteps entered the training room and stopped.

Raven slowly peeked open an eye.

"Um…hey Raven. Everything okay?" asked Robin, who stood there cautiously a couple of feet away from her.

Raven opened her eyes with a half-surprised look on her face. "Um…yeah?"

"Okay." Robin nodded, looking a little embarrassed, "Um, sorry to interrupt on what you're doing, but uh…I just want to make sure if nothing was bothering you."

The dark bird raised an eyebrow. "No…why would you think that?"

"Well, I'm the leader and all of that, and it's natural for me to be concern, but…I've noticed you've been kind of…well…out of touch with your powers lately." Robin said, trying to find the right words.

Raven's eyes widened slightly. "What do you mean?"

Now Robin raised an eyebrow in question. "Well…you've been kind of blowing things up lately with your powers. I thought you had a better grasp of them now after you defeated your father."

' _ _Crap. Now him too.'__ "Um…"

"I mean, I'm not saying you haven't been controlling them lately, it's just…there's nothing wrong is there?" Robin said with a frown, truly concerned.

Raven stared at him with a touched expression. __'He came to check up on me…'__ She floated down onto the floor, still in her sitting position.

Could this be it? The right moment?

No. It's too soon. She needs to think of something that's a half truth.

"…Well, I've been…distracted." Raven started.

"Distracted?" Robin inquired, "By what?"

' _ _By you.'__ She didn't say that out loud, thankfully. "…By…myself."

"Yourself?" Robin raised a brow.

Raven nodded, "I…I think it's just…maybe since after I've defeated my father…I've been…kind of afraid to… _ _feel__."

Robin's eyes widened behind his mask. "Really?"

"…Yes." __'That's kind of true…'__ "I just feel like…" Raven sighed, "…I __have__ been able to control my powers recently during these months, but…it just makes me wonder…will I ever feel?"

Robin frowned, "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that…I don't want to try to keep __feeling__ too much. I mean, it's good that I don't have my father anymore reminding me of my so-called __destiny__ , but…if I feel __too__ much…I'm afraid I'll screw up…and accidentally hurt someone…"

Robin stared down at Raven, listening to everything she said.

"Raven…you don't have to be afraid to feel. That's why you defeated your father in the first place. More than anything, not feeling at all is tearing you up inside." He said in sympathy.

Raven looked down at the floor with a solemn expression. "I know…it's just…" She didn't say anything after that.

Robin frowned even more at her uncertainty. __'I can't let her feel like this. What can I do?'__ he thought…until he came up with something. __'Hmm…it works for me…maybe it'll work for her?'__

Meanwhile, Raven was trying hard to ignore the stare that Robin was giving her. __'Well, what I said basically sums up how I'm feeling…more or less.'__

She looked up…only to see an outstretched green gloved hand in front of her. Raven blinked. She looked up even further to see Robin, who smiled as he offered his hand to her.

"Um…"

"Come on. I think I know a something that might help." Robin said, giving her the same warm smile.

Raven sat there and looked at his hand. Should she take it?

' _ _Calm down Raven, it's not like one of those horrible romance movies Starfire likes.'__ "Uh…okay." She lends her small hand to Robin, who's bigger, more masculine hand easily wraps around it as he pulled her up. "So, uh…what exactly is this thing you wanna try?" the empath asked a little awkwardly once she was back on her feet.

"Well, from what you're saying to me, it seems like you're experiencing stress. So, as a stress reliever, how about we spar?" Robin suggested.

"Spar?" Raven said with a raised brow.

"Yeah. No powers, just regular hand-to-hand combat."

Raven looked at her leader with a confused stare, "But…I can't fight."

"Then this has the added bonus of being your first lesson," Robin replied with a smile.

Amethyst eyes widen in surprise. "But…what about your training from outside? What about Cyborg, Beast Boy, and…Star?"

"I trust they can do a good job without me. Plus, I uh…kind of need to get away from Star for a little bit." Robin said sheepishly. "Besides, I think learning hand-to-hand combat could do wonders if you can't access your powers for any reason."

Seeing no way out, and partially excited about the idea of them spending time together alone, Raven gave in. "U-um…o-okay."

"Great," the boy wonder replied happily, but then his face morphed into an embarrassed grin. "But, um, before we start I think it'd be a good idea for you to take off your cloak."

Raven felt her stomach flip. "Why?"

"It'll be easier for you to move around without it. When you get better, it won't matter, but since you're just starting out you'll be better off without it."

Putting aside her embarrassment the half-demon could see the logic in her leader's explanation. So, swallowing down the lump in her throat, Raven undid the clasp that held her hooded cloak together and let it pool at her feet.

With that gone, the violet-haired Titan was left in her boots, belt, and leotard. She stood before her leader and forced herself not to fidget. "Okay, what's next?"

Robin, who had turned away at the sight of his female team-mate's slender form, began to remove his cape as he explained what they'd be doing. "Alright, what I want you to do is step back about three paces, and get into the stance you'd normally use in a fight."

Raven did as she was told. Her arms came up, with her right slightly ahead of her left, and her knees bent slightly in preparation of moving quickly. The boy wonder studied the stance for a second, before instructing her to move her right leg forward, so that she was better balanced.

From there, Robin entered into his own stance, and grinned. "And now, we do a warm-up."

Raven barely had time to duck behind her arms as a gloved fist shot forward. The impact, she noticed, didn't send her stumbling like the girl had been used to. Instead, Raven noticed her feet were firm. __'And from something as simple as moving my legs.'__

Out of the corner of her eye, the petite sorceress noticed a roundhouse coming her way, so she ducked it. Raven could see right away that her sparring partner wasn't going full-force, otherwise, that move would have hit.

As she was down low, the violet-haired girl's eyes scanned quickly for an opening. __'There!'__ Raven sent out a quick jab with her right hand, but hit nothing but air as Robin twisted out of the way. Unfortunately, Raven didn't pull her hand back fast enough, and wound up getting pulled off her feet.

"Oomph," she let out a huff as she fell to her hands and knees.

Above her, Robin grinned. "That was good. You managed to not only avoid my kick, but even found the opening I left behind; most people wouldn't be sharp enough to have seen it."

From her place on the ground Raven let a small smile tug at her lips, but made sure it was gone when she returned to her feet.

"So I won round one," Robin relayed with a smug smile, "do you think you'll be able to stay on your feet long enough for a round two?"

His sparring partner's response was roundhouse of her own.

And so it went. Neither combatant really knew how long they traded blows, all they really knew, was that it was the most fun they'd had in a long time. Raven in particular enjoyed the interaction. She was able to spend time with Robin outside of team outings or missions; something that had previously only been done by Starfire and, to a lesser extent, Cyborg.

As the sparring went on Robin would stop periodically to point out a flaw, or a to explain a missed opportunity to Raven, but the young detective quickly learned himself that Raven never had to be corrected on the same thing twice. It seemed the Titan's other bird was also a martial arts prodigy.

Everything seemed to be going great...and then it happened.

Raven may have the raw talent, but the girl possessed none of the stamina that came with years of harsh training like Robin had, and so she eventually became too tired to keep up with her sparring partner's quick moves.

When Robin went for a leg sweep, Raven was too tired to avoid it, and so she quickly tumbled down off her feet. However, Robin hadn't expected this, and was unable to move out of the way fast enough. This resulted in a a pair of grunts as two bodies collided on the training room floor.

Tired. Raven was __very__ tired. Her lungs burned from being pushed beyond their usual limits and the lithe young heroine took deep breaths in an attempt to appease their cries for air. It was during this time, that Raven's nose picked up the strong scent of Old Spice. __'Huh?'__

Opening her eyes, Raven took in her surroundings, and quickly realized something strange was going on. __'Since when did we get red mats for the training room? And...since when do mats breath?'__

Lifting herself up by her hands Raven looked down...and nearly chocked on her own tongue when she saw her leader's patented __'R'__ staring back at her. Bringing her head up completely, Raven noticed that Robin's masked eyed were staring at her. Thankful that her already flushed face would hide her blush, Raven muttered out a quick apology.

"S-Sorry about that Robin. I guess my next lesson should be about knowing when to take a break huh?"

But the boy wonder didn't say anything. He just...stared. His domino mask was wide, as if the raven-haired hero couldn't believe what he was seeing. It made the sorceress self-conscious. "Um, Robin, what is it? Do I have a-"

Just as she was reaching up to check for any bruises, Robin's gloved hand came up and took hold of her much smaller one. "Wait," he whispered, "don't move."

When Raven had lifted her head from his chest, Robin felt his stomach flip at the sight of her. Yes, she was sweaty from their spar, but the way it glistened off her pale skin, and made her disheveled hair cling to her face was a sight that just...took the Titan leader's breath away. It was a sight that he'd never seen before; one he was __sure__ nobody else had seen either.

And oddly enough, he didn't __want__ anyone else to see it.

When he saw Raven go to touch her face, the boy wonder stopped her. Lest she makes an attempt to fix her hair, and ruin the visage of beauty before him- "Uh, dudes, are we gonna order that pizza or no?"

And then, the spell was broken

Raven shot up off of Robin's chest, falling backward onto her butt as she turned her eyes to the door. There, standing side-by-side, were the other three Titans. With one alien princess having a particularly suspicious look in her eye.

Robin, quickly managing to bring himself to his feet, turned to the green changeling and replied, "Yeah Beast Boy, sorry about that. Rae and I just lost track of time. I was teaching her some close-combat moves for in case her magic fails her."

Starfire, who did not take her eyes off the still-floored Raven, asked, "But Robin, how come you and I have not practiced such maneuvers?"

"Well, because Star, you'd still have your super-strength even if your starbolt powers were shorted out; like when we got stranded on that weird planet. Raven doesn't have anything like that to fall back on." the spiky-haired teen answered smoothly.

"Who cares about that stuff Starfire," Beast Boy interjected, "Rob just said the magic word. Come on, you gotta call the pizza place," the changeling ranted as he took her hand and began to lead her away.

"But friend Beast Boy, why must I do the ordering?"

The youngest Titan turned and looked at the red-head with a large grin, "Because, the guys on the phone always offer us free stuff when they hear your voice Star," his face then sunk into an annoyed frown as he grumbled, "and because they won't take the order anymore if they hear my voice on the line."

With that, the two Titans ambled out of the room, their voices echoing through the otherwise empty hall. Back in the training area, Robin let out a sigh of relief. __'That was close.'__

Then the young hero realized what had just passed through his mind. __'Wait, what was close, we didn't even do anything!'__

 _ _'__ _ ** _ **But you thought about it,'**_**_ came a second voice in the back of Robin's mind.

And instead of outright denying it, like Robin would have normally done, the young teen simply lowered his head and let his cheeks fill with heat again. The voice wasn't wrong.

He'd wanted to __kiss__ Raven.

Cyborg looked at the two with his arms crossed, showing a small smirk. "So, ya'll just gonna relax at the training room, or do you two wanna relax at the rec room for the day?"

Robin snapped out of his thoughts and replied, "Um…yeah." He then remembered that Raven was still on the floor. Turning to her, he offered his hand, gaining the attention of the heroine, "So, uh…great spar." He said, feeling a little awkward.

"Y-yeah…" Raven offered her hand into his, which he soon lifted her up on her feet.

"I um…hope that made you feel better." Robin said with a sheepish smile.

"Yeah, it…it did." Raven said with a small smile.

Robin nodded, smile still remaining. "Good. Well…let's decide what we want for pizza then." He got his cape off the floor and swung it on his shoulder. He walked out of the training room ahead of Cyborg, not noticing the mechanical teen's full-fledged smirk directed at Raven after he passed him.

Raven, noticing the smirk on Cyborg's face, frowned as she blushed.

Cyborg just raised his hands up as a mock surrender and said, "Hey…in due time, Rae. In due time. Come on, let's go upstairs." He said as he led the way.

Raven, stilling blushing, got her cloak and wrapped it around her figure. She pulled her hood up so no one can see her blush…and her small bashful smile. "Yeah…maybe in due time…" she then exited out of the training room.

* * *

 ** **I hope Raven's last line and reaction didn't sound too OOC for some reason...tell me if it sounds okay. D:****

 ** **Alrighty then! There's the chapter! I have to let you all know, the beginning and parts of the end(aka the Robin and Raven sparring scene) was made by Young Napoleon22. Thanks so much man! :D****

 ** **And I know what you're thinking, but when are the Titans going to meet the Joker? Well…not in a little while, BUT, they'll get to meet an even**** _ ** _ **special**_**_ ** **guest at the end of the next chapter! Who may that be!? …Come on, you should all know by now. XP****

 ** **Thank you all for reading! Keep on rocking everyone! :)****

 ** **-TSP****


	4. Realization

**This chapter was written by me. :)**

 **I feel like I can maybe write this story from here on in. The only problem was that I couldn't think of any scientific stuff to say, as well as write any battle scenes. But now, I feel pretty confident on writing some of this stuff. But just in case, wish me luck! :D**

 **However, I really did appreciate YN22's help. It's just that I feel like he's really busy right now with life stuff and his stories, that I don't want to impose on him to help me write some scenes of my stories. :(**

 **But still, thanks man! You really did help me out with this story! :D**

 **And now, onward! :)**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

* * *

It was quite a slow crime day for the Titans, although of course, they weren't complaining. After hitting the showers(except for Cyborg of course) from their training session, throughout the afternoon they were doing their usual activities. In the rec room, Cyborg and Beast Boy playing one of their fighting games, whereas Starfire was concocting an Earthling version of a Tamaranian 'delicacy' whilst trying to find substitute ingredients for it. Robin was in his room going through old case files of interests, while Raven was in her room as well meditating.

"Aw, come on, Cy! Why do you ALWAYS have to choose the robot character!? Is that like linked into your memory bank now or something?" Beast Boy exclaimed as they choose which character to play.

"Hey, I gotta choose someone to relate to! And says the guy who chooses the beastly looking character _every time_!" Cyborg retaliated.

Beast Boy stayed silent for a while, until he chose the quote unquote 'beastly character' with a pout. "Point taken."

Cyborg smirked.

"Okay, so which setting do you want to fight in?" Beast Boy asked, with a little bit of aggravation in his voice.

Cyborg was about to decide but stopped as he turned his head to see Starfire preparing…whatever she's preparing. She seems to be baking it in the oven right now.

"Hey Star! How long is that going to take?" Cyborg asked.

Starfire turned around to look at the mechanical teen with blinking eyes. "Oh! The Pudding of Togetherness will be ready in…" she paused to think, "in thirty Earth minutes!"

Cyborg smiled, "Well, how about you come over here and play some video games with us? We have a third controller!"

"What!?" Beast Boy said in shock, "Dude! I don't want to get my butt handed to her again!"

At one time(and only one time) when Starfire decided to play one of their fighting games, she was an actual fighting game prodigy. No one knew how she learned the button hand-coordination so quickly, but she absolutely did a _phenomenal_ job of kicking both Cyborg AND Beast Boy's butt in the game. It must be something to do with her alien reflexes. Of course, she didn't know how to do it at first, but BB and Cy taught her the basics of it, and then…well, all chaos went loose when she started playing.

The robot teen smirked at BB, "Hey, it's always a fun plus to see you lose."

"…Dude, you're despicable."

Starfire, however, was contemplating on whether or not she should take a break while it was baking. "Well…thirty Earth minutes do take a long while…" she smiled, "Okay! I shall play the fighting video game with you both, friends!"

Beast Boy groaned inwardly while Cyborg smiled, "Great! Scoot over BB."

Beast Boy complied as he let Starfire sit in the middle of them. Feeling giddy, Star flew to the couch and sat in between the two males. Cy handed her a controller and they soon started to set up their bout.

Once they selected their fighters(Star chose a woman fighter), they started playing. While Star was indeed a prodigy, Cyborg was the second best when it came to the fighting game. Beast Boy…well, he tries, but he has his moments. So as of now, Cyborg and Beast Boy tried to gang up on her in the game. This took a good amount of time, as they were trying to deplete her health.

Thinking of a way to distract her, Cyborg asked, "So, what's the occasion that you made this Pudding of Togetherness about, Star?"

"Oh! Well, it is a delicacy to commemorate the one-month anniversary of my relationship with Robin and I!" she said as she beamed.

"Oh…" Cyborg grimaced as he felt a pang of guilt in his mechanical gut. While he did say that he was Team RobRae now, there still was Starfire's feelings about the whole thing…he did view Star as a little sister too, and although he did think that her and Robin's relationship was getting kind of out of hand, he didn't want to see the poor alien girl get hurt as well. Like he said to Raven, he was just supporting the leader and the alien girl's relationship because they thought they would be happy. And ever since Raven came out with her feelings for their team leader, he just couldn't say, "Aw well, that's life!". He had to give her hope…plus it hurt him to see the dark female bird being all bothered.

He didn't expect Raven to do anything that she'll regret, like kissing Robin while he was still in a relationship with Starfire. Raven was smarter than that. But he was so with the idea of Raven and Robin being together, that he didn't realize how much of an effect it would cause Starfire…heck, maybe even the whole team.

He also kind of felt bad for calling Robin an idiot now…there was his side of the story that Cyborg himself didn't know.

"Of course, you can all enjoy the Pudding of Togetherness as well! It's not just for me and Robin! This delicacy is enjoyed by the closeness of friends as well!" Starfire said as she maneuvered her fighter.

"Oh…cool. T-thanks Star." Cyborg said as he felt even more ashamed. ' _Damn, now I feel like a jackass.'_

"So…what's in the pudding?" Beast Boy asked, trying really hard to concentrate on the virtual battle that they were having.

Starfire giggled, "It is a surprise! But I can tell you ONE ingredient that I am using!"

"Let me guess; mustard?" Beast Boy said with a toothy smirk.

She giggled some more, "Indeed it is! I guess I am a little bit predictable, am I?"

"Hey, as long as there's no meat products in it, then I'm cool," BB said with a smile.

"Of course, Beast Boy! I wouldn't make something that would be displeasing to my friends!" Starfire said, a sweet smile directed at him before letting her eyes go back to the screen. "I even mixed the white powdery substance known as flour with the milk of soy in it!"

"Really?" Beast Boy said in surprise as he glanced at her, eyes off the screen for a second until he directed them back to the game with a kind smile. "Wow! Cool Star! Thanks!"

Cyborg cringed, "Um…Star, you do know that I don't really eat and drink anything that BB eats and drinks, do you? I mean, I _guess_ I can understand the 'no meat' thing for the pudding, but…you're basically making something that ol' grass stain here likes."

Starfire frowned in confusion, "But what could be the difference between milk and soy milk? The liquids both look white, don't they?"

Before Cyborg can try to explain, Beast Boy interrupted him by saying to the alien girl, "Well, one comes from a more superior source; a plant called a 'soy-plant'. The other comes from poor mother cows who can't use that milk to feed their young."

"Oh my!" Starfire grimaced while she plays her character, "That is most disheartening!"

Cyborg rolled his human eye, "Oh come on, Beast Boy, don't corrupt the poor girl."

"I'm not corrupting her! I'm telling her the cold hard truth!" Beast Boy argued. He leaned to Starfire, whispering loudly, "I don't know if you know this, but cows get turned into steaks, which Cy eats steaks."

Starfire gasped, and pause the game turning to Cyborg with a disapproving glare, "Friend Cyborg, is this true!?"

"W-what!?" Cyborg stuttered, feeling shocked that Star would pause the game just to scold at him. "W-well, Star, you know, it's…it's the way of nature! We've been doing this on Earth for thousands of years! And don't tell me you don't eat anything living on your planet!"

Starfire blinked a bit as she looked down sheepishly at the floor with a blush, "Well…we do have an annual Florgashbod supper back at my planet."

"Florgashbod?" Beast Boy said in interest.

"It is a huge animal that we eat every Tamaran year, to commemorate our roots," Starfire explains. "It is…actually most tasty."

Beast Boy gasped comically, "STAR!"

"Oh can it, Greenie. These are alien animals, and you can't do alien animals, so they don't count in your book. Besides, you never had any problem with Robin and I eating meat." Cyborg told Beast Boy.

"Well, that's only because I respect Robin! I just let you do it cause I _guess_ I kind of respect you. Hopefully, you'll get tired of eating it someday and see the error of your meat eating ways!" the green superhero exclaims.

Cyborg rolled his eye again, "Yeah, yeah, you know you can't stay mad at me. You just _looove_ me!" He laughed as Beast Boy looked disgusted.

"Ugh. Don't go there, dude." Beast Boy said with a grimace.

Starfire sat there for a moment, the word 'love' creeping in her mind. She remembered Robin and Raven's semi-close moment with each other back at the training room…

"Well, how about we stop talking about our preference in food and get back to the game, huh?" Cyborg said with a grin.

"Fine by me." said Beast Boy.

Starfire perked up, "Oh! Yes! I shall, how do you say it…lay the smack-down on you two?"

Beast Boy laughed, "We'll see about that!"

Soon BB un-paused the game, and they were back to playing it. Starfire, however, while fighting the two males, was thinking about Robin and Raven…

' _They certainly were close to each other when I arrived…they couldn't have been…no…Robin and Raven are friends, nothing more…Raven wouldn't do that, and Robin wouldn't either…although…why does Robin seem to distance me lately? And during lunchtime, why were they exchanging glances?'_ Starfire thought with uncertainty.

Cyborg took glances at Starfire and noticed her distant expression. He frowned, wondering if she was alright.

The red-haired alien, however, remained silent as she beats the two boys single-handedly in the game.

"Aww man!" Beast Boy exclaimed as he leaned back into the couch, "Why am I not surprised!? This is your fault, Cy!"

"Hey, don't be a sore loser! Starfire won fair and square!" Cyborg said to get her attention, but so far she still looked a little melancholy. Cyborg frowned again.

Beast Boy noticed the depressed look on Starfire's face and asked in worry, "Uh…Star? You alright? You won the game."

Starfire took a deep sigh, "Beast Boy…Cyborg…do you think Robin still…um…has a 'thing' for me?"

Cyborg's eye widened. Beast Boy looked confused, "What? What do you mean? Of course he does!"

"Y-yeah, Star, of course he does! What makes you say that?" Cyborg said with a little nervousness in his tone.

"Well…" Starfire fiddled with her hands. "It would seem that every time I hug him, he gets…tense, I think. I also feel like…he distances himself away from me every chance he gets…"

"What? Aw come on, Star, you and Robin have been going out for over a month now! There's no way Robin is getting tired of you, that ain't his style!" Cyborg reassured her, all the while in a tight predicament. He obviously couldn't tell Starfire what Raven told him about Robin, and what Raven told him about her crush on Robin…

' _Aw hell, this is NOT good…'_ Cyborg thought with a little dread.

"Yeah!" Beast Boy agreed, "Robin's crazy about you!"

Starfire still looked unsure…

BB frowned. ' _Aw man, poor Star…this is really eating her up…well, she has been kind of possessive of him lately…hoo-boy, I'm not usually good at this type of stuff, but her relationship with Robin is on the line…'_

"You know Star…you _have_ been kind of clingy with him lately." the green boy said.

Cyborg looked at him, eye wide in surprise, ' _Oh no, Beast Boy, what the_ hell _are you_ doing _!?'_

Starfire turned to Beast Boy and blinked, "Clingy? As in…giving him too much attention?"

"No, no, you giving him attention is good! It's just…what I mean by 'clingy' is…you're not really giving him his space…"

"His…space?" Starfire questioned.

"Yeah! I mean, he _really does_ like you, it's just…well, what I mean by giving him his space is that you're trying to crowd him with too much affection. Now I'm not saying giving him affection is a bad thing, it's just…there's a limit."

"There is?" Starfire asked curiously.

"Yeah, like…what if you were doing something _really_ important and Robin all of a sudden gives you a hug out of nowhere?" Beast Boy explains.

"But…Robin is not the type to give hugs unexpectedly." Starfire said in confusion.

Cyborg decided to step in, "Well, yeah, but that was an example. What BB here means is that you do give out…um, unwanted attention to Robin." ' _Aw man, I hope I know what I'm doing here…'_

"Unwanted attention?"

Beast Boy jumped in, "Well, not 'unwanted' as in he doesn't appreciate it or anything, it's just…Robin is a private type of guy, and he keeps his privacy locked up inside, you know?"

"Yes, he does tend to…lock things up inside." Starfire agreed, slowly understanding.

"Yeah!" Beast Boy nodded, "And he really does care about you! I mean, who wouldn't be? It's just that Robin's not really the super affectionate type…but that doesn't mean he never shows you affection in his own way! It's just that…well, showing him TOO much affection kind of makes him feel uncomfortable. And that's where his space comes in."

Cyborg has to admit; he was impressed by how BB was explaining these things to Starfire so far.

Starfire nodded her green friend to continue.

"You see, since Robin is a private guy, he needs his space. You can keep being in a relationship with him, you just got to know _when_ it's right to give him affection. Like giving him kisses and hugs and all that 24/7, makes a guy, _no offense_ …kind of annoyed."

"You mean I am annoying Robin!?" Starfire said in a panic. Cyborg had a look of panic on his face as well.

Beast Boy grimaced, "W-W-Well no, but if you keep doing what you are doing you might." He cleared his throat, "Look, Star, I get the feeling you don't know too much about Earthling relationships, do you?"

"Well…" she looks down in shame, "No, I do not."

"Okay, well, sometimes…relationships here on Earth are complicated. Robin's a complicated individual as well. He _does_ want to be in a relationship with you though, but…he's a guy who likes to have his space at times. And he _loves_ to hang out with you, but I think maybe due to the fact that we're superheroes, he's just trying to protect you from any baddies that find out that you and Robin have a thing going on."

Starfire looks as if she gets the picture but still holds some uncertainty. "But…I still feel like Robin is avoiding me…"

Beast Boy frowned, "Hey, Star…" she put a hand on her shoulder, which made her look at him, "You're a great gal. You're compassionate, nice, pretty, and you're very smart! Robin is not avoiding you, not _ever_. Even if he somehow is, then there's something wrong with him. Don't sell yourself short. Robin _does_ _like_ you, this I know. Right Cy?" he looked over at the big mechanical teen.

Cyborg blinked, "Um, yeah! Absolutely, Star! Robin's crazy about you, in a good way, of course!" He forced a smile that he hoped didn't look fake.

They seem to buy it as Beast Boy smiled himself, while Starfire gave a small smile to Cyborg. She turned to BB with the same small but warm smile. She then stared straight ahead and took a deep breath while she still smiles, "Beast Boy…Cyborg…thank you both, my friends."

Beast Boy beamed, "No problem Star!"

Cyborg formed a weak smile, "Yeah…a-anytime."

Starfire smiled to both of them happily.

 _ **BEEP BEEP!**_

"Oh! The pudding! I must attend to it!" Starfire said as she flew up and towards the oven over at the kitchen.

Beast Boy smiled as he sees Starfire attending to her cooking again. Cyborg forced a smile as well but still felt guilty about giving Star false hope. ' _Damn, BB's right. I am despicable.'_

Speaking of BB, Cyborg glanced at his green friend, leaned to him, and whispered, "Wow, nice going with the talk there, BB. I'm impressed."

Beast Boy had a smug smirk, "Hey, I know a thing or two about relationships…" He then frowned…

Cyborg grimaced. ' _Aw man…he's thinking about Terra.'_ "Hey, whatever you're thinking, don't think it. Come on, want to play another round? I promise I'll go a little easy on ya."

Beast Boy glanced at his big friend and smiled appreciatively, "Sure!"

And the three Titans resumed their activities…

* * *

Raven was in her room levitating above her bed crossed legged in deep concentration, chanting her mantra. Today was…interesting to say at least. After that little 'spar' Robin and Raven did, she couldn't help but feel…well, she couldn't say giddy, but slightly happy. She didn't expect to be that physically close to her leader since the whole Trigon scenario. Also, during the time they waited for the pizza in the rec room, she would steal quick glances at Robin, which luckily, nobody noticed, not even Robin…at least she thinks he hadn't noticed. She wondered what Robin was thinking about after what had occurred, heck, Raven wondered _herself_ what Robin was thinking after doing what he almost did back in the training room. She was even trying her hardest to not feel the tiniest bit happy after what happened, lest she wants to blow something up.

Would that little fling actually affect her and her leader's relationship? She doesn't know, but all Raven did know, was that she felt a spark, and it was enough to give her hope that she and Robin could have something. Although, it still didn't change the fact that Robin was still with Starfire.

So after pizza, she decided to meditate on it. Her emotions were right now in a swirl, making her confused on what to do now. Sure, she was happy, but given the circumstances, she didn't want to make a fool out of herself and ruin Robin's already established relationship with Star…and _theirs_. She had to keep these excited emotions tamed and under control…

Raven continued to chant her mantra enough to finally reach her calm point and levitated down as she sat back on her bed. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes as she gazed at her lap...then, reaching for her nightstand drawer, she got out her diary, opened it, and began writing in it again.

 _2nd Entry_

 _Well, so far, I had a bizarre, but uplifting day. Not much crime in the city today, but we were training to prepare for this World Medicine Conference thing tomorrow. But the highlight of my day…well, it all started when Robin came by to check up on me. He was worried about me, which of course, being the leader, he has too. But still…it meant a lot._

 _He advised that we could spar to relieve any unwanted stress that I was having. So…we spared. I was doing good for a while…I was kind of a natural. And then…it happened. I got tired while sparring, Robin had a good opportunity to trip me, and…well…I'll just say we were in a tempting position. I'll leave it at that._

 _And then…Robin stared at me…at first I thought there was a bruise on my face, but he seemed…mesmerized. I think…he was mesmerized by_ me… _which made me…feel special inside…_

 _I don't know what this means…I mean, I DO know what it means, but…that moment…if it had continued, would we have gone far? To lean in closer to each other and…kiss? Could it then lead to something more?_

 _I'm really sad but yet happy that we didn't go too far. I really don't want to screw up Robin and Starfire's relationship…but it makes me wonder…when Robin stared at me like that…did he ever thought of me that way before?_

 _I felt emotions from him, one was shock and the other…in awe?_

Raven blushed. She always felt a little self-conscious about her looks through the years. Not for the wrong reasons, but…well, the years have been kind to her. Sure she has a lithe figure, but it was also curvaceous, and it along with other feminine attributes, were hidden really well underneath her cloak. She _kind of_ considers herself to be pretty…

She shook her head and kept writing back in her diary.

 _Whatever he felt…it made me feel…well, beautiful…has he ever thought of me as beautiful before?_

… _Ugh, I really DO sound like a love struck school girl…all thanks to Robin the Boy Blunder._

Raven smirked at that nickname.

 _Well, either way…it gave me hope…_

She stopped there. She remembered Robin saying that she was the most hopeful person that he knows…she smiled at that memory.

' _I can only hope…'_

After a while of more meditating, she decided to get up from her bed, exit out of her room, and head over to the rec room. She felt more at ease now, and she could use some noise at the moment. Usually, she would be cooped up in her room trying to meditate and control her emotions, which she started doing that again after Tokyo, but now, she felt more relaxed…more hopeful.

Thinking on what Cyborg said, she did think that in due time, things will be okay…

' _Although…how_ will _it affect Starfire?'_

She stopped in her walk as she was in front of the doors to the rec room, her expression turning into shock realization.

' _Wait a minute…even if…even if there is a hope that Robin and I_ could _be_ _together in due time…would it…would it upset Starfire?'_

…She hadn't given the time to think about that, even while she was meditating.

Actually…how would it affect the team if that was the case?

'… _Oh, crap…'_

…She just had another problem.

Raven grimaced.

'… _Damn it. Life is_ never _that easy, isn't it?'_

Now what is she going to do?

* * *

Meanwhile, Robin was in his room studying different case files, ranging from the HIVE trio to Slade. Slade was still out there, but so far, he STILL hasn't made his appearance known. For all he knows, Slade might be out of the country. But that didn't stop him from trying to locate him…

The HIVE trio was another story. After they destroyed their school and beaten Brother Blood, they've been in hiding ever since. While not completely dangerous, they were still criminals, so Robin had to keep track on whatever they might be up to, whether they do petty robberies or damage property.

Besides, it gave him something to do. There was no crime recently, so that was good…although, it made him uneasy, hence the time to look through case files.

…Speaking of looking at case files…he wondered how Batman is doing…

Robin's frown deepened.

Back when he was still the Boy Wonder in Gotham, Batman and Robin's partnership was good…for a while. When he turned fifteen, however, a lot of things changed. He felt like he wasn't getting any respect from the Bat when he's out fighting crime with him. Not that Batman didn't think he wasn't a capable fighter, it's just that he thinks Robin couldn't handle any of the missions that seem too 'big league', such as Two-Face, Penguin, Riddler, Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, Bane, heck, even Joker at times. Ever since the Tony Zucco* incident, Bats felt like he was holding him back. After a much-heated argument of not treating him seriously enough, he just decided to do his own superhero thing, breaking off their partnership on a harsh note.

Still, he felt kind of bad for ditching Batman, aka his surrogate father Bruce Wayne, like that. The falling out probably affected him as well…

After breaking it off, he decided to become his own hero. That's what he felt like he needed to do, ever since fighting alongside with the Batman for so long. He was confident in his fighting abilities, as well as his intellect on solving crimes, which along with being intellectual, he was also a tinkerer of gadgets, thanks to hanging around and observing Batman for a good while when he was fixing his. And since Lucius Fox has some connections to another Wayne Enterprises branch in Jump City, he decided to start there.

Still, it _was_ kind of selfish to abandon Bruce to start his own superhero career…but he couldn't be a sidekick _forever_. He wants to fight crime and help people out in his own way…

But even after Robin and his mentor's arguments and disagreements, he still respects Batman…he just hopes Bruce still respects _him_ after all these years.

He still gets to talk to Alfred though…and his ex-girlfriend Barbara, aka Batgirl…

' _Alright, enough on memory lane. I need to focus here…'_

And he did, searching for any leagues on the three HIVE members for now…

…Until the image of Raven without her cloak on came to mind.

Robin blinked.

'… _Uh…okay…'_ He shook his head, ' _Um…back to what I was doing…'_

…Image of Raven's sensual curves.

Robin's eyes narrowed, trying really hard to concentrate on the case files.

…Her gorgeous figure looking sexy when she was fighting.

He put his hand on his forehead and rubbed it as he grunted…

…Raven's beautiful sweat glistened face, which resembled an actual angel-

 _ **SLAM!**_

Robin slammed his fist on the desk in which he observed his case files on.

' _Okay, stop this. That little spar was nothing…it was just friends doing a little one-on-one fighting, nothing more. …I mean, of course, Raven's attractive, but so is Starfire! Yeah, don't forget that you're with_ Star _! You like Star, you're together with her! Raven…Raven is just a friend…a good friend…_

… _A good beautiful friend that I took fleeting glances at when lunch rolled around.'_

Robin growled as he put his hand to his face in aggravation, ' _Seriously, what the HELL is wrong with me? I was just being a concerned leader to my other female teammate, and now all of a sudden I might…no. Don't go there.'_

He thought about his and Raven's 'bond', and how he saved her from the depths of Hell…how he gave her hope…

She looked so serene in white…

He roughly shook his head.

' _Am I…I mean…am I really developing feelings for Raven?'_

If this was true…then what about Starfire? Truth be told, he did like her, ever since they formed the team…although, in his line of work, he was _supposed_ to care for all his teammates. That includes the two female members. After breaking it off with Barbara because of his move, he thought he was going to be alone for the rest of his life like Bruce, heaven forbid. But Star came along, and she was just a breath of fresh air. Sure, she was an alien, but she was so…cheery, positive, full of life…she was just what he wanted after all the crap that was being thrown at him back at Gotham…

…Actually, Barbara was like that too…

Either way, Starfire caught his attention, may it be the language transferring kiss or her(no pun attended) otherworldly beauty. He could also tell that she had a thing for him too, with how much she asks him questions all the time about Earth culture and always being close to him as possible.

But Robin liked and admired Starfire as a person foremost. Sure, she was eccentric with what she eats, but that's what makes her unique in a good way. She was kind, caring, and she was indeed smart.

Then there was Raven…

He admits that Raven was pretty when he first met her when they formed the Titans those years ago. As those years passed, however, she became a _woman_ physically.

…He won't go into details about that…

But Raven…she was different, in a good way. But while Starfire was bright and cheery, Raven was not. But she does have her reasons; dealing with an interdimensional demon as your father _can_ make you feel terrible, plus her powers are controlled by her emotions, making her almost impossible to show any feelings on any matter.

He really meant it though when he said she was the most hopeful person he's ever known. If it wasn't for her choice to keep living and not be who her father wants her to be, then everything in the world would've been doomed under her father's reign. After that, she began to feel more - but not by much, her emotions are still linked to her powers. Either way, something changed in her. She was…truly happy. In the past couple of months, the look in her eyes held a joyful hope, as if saying, 'Things will be alright from now on.'

In truth, Robin admired Raven as well. She was also a breath of fresh air, with her sardonic humor, her straight-to-the-point attitude, her honesty, all of which she was under her father's influence at the time. He loves hanging out with her, as they seem to always strike interesting conversations as well as enjoy each other's company from time to time.

She also has a sense of justice, making her more human than demon, and she proved it when she fought Trigon.

She was truly a hero…

All in all, he truly respects and admires her…she's a great friend, a great heroine, and a great girl…any man would be lucky to have her…she was perfect in almost every way, especially her looks. She was positively beautifu-

…Robin frowned…

… _Damn_ …

…This is…interesting…

… _Does_ he like her that way?

And…if he does, then…again, what about Starfire? What would happen to her if she finds out he _might_ like Raven that way?

Now there was one thing that Robin is absolutely not; a backstabber. _If_ he does have feelings for Raven, he just couldn't break off his and Star's relationship just like that. Besides, he _does_ like Starfire, even when she gets a little clingy at times. But she's too innocent when it comes to Earth relationships, and he doesn't want to break her heart if he likes another girl…which is her best friend as well.

Robin closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, frustrated at these turn of events.

' _Well, this is happening…how does Batman do it?'_

Although he's in a tight spot, it doesn't deter his concerns on what's wrong with Raven. He gets the feeling that Raven was bothered by something else other than 'not being able to truly feel…'.

Which is strange, because she could still feel…but oddly enough, she now gets hesitant about it. She also has been losing a little bit of control with her powers lately. During that month, she hasn't really been quite herself. It all happened after Tokyo a month ago…

What could've been the problem?

Robin checked the alarm clock on his desk.

 **1:20 PM**

'… _I need a walk.'_

So, he got up from his chair and exited out of his room.

* * *

After leaving his room, he then decided that instead of a walk he would head over to the rec room to probably relax for a bit. Sure, he can expect Cyborg and Beast Boy loudly playing one of their games, but it was better than being in a stuffy room surrounded by case files. Plus, he needed the noise.

Upon arriving there, however, Robin spotted Raven who was standing in front of the doors to the rec room.

"Raven?"

Raven jolted and turned around, surprised, "Oh…hey, Robin."

"Hey…you alright?"

"Um…"

All of a sudden the doors opened, revealing Starfire.

"Oh! Robin! A-And…Raven!" the alien girl said, somewhat surprised to see Raven there. She then turned her attention to Robin, "Um…e-excuse me for intruding, but I wanted to let you try out my latest Tamaranian and Earth dish, the Pudding of Togetherness! I have it done and I wanted you to taste test it, since you are my boyfriend, and nothing is filled with more togetherness than a boy and a girl's relationship!" she said as she smiled bashfully.

"Uh…" Robin smiled uneasily.

Then, the alarm went off.

All three Titans blinked.

"Um…trouble, apparently," Raven stated.

"Oh florgnaff." Starfire muttered.

"Maybe another time Star. We should see what's up." Robin said.

* * *

 **Tell me what you think in a review, or give me a fave and follow! :D**

 **Thank you all for reading, and keep on rocking everybody! ^_^**

 **-TSP**


	5. All Part of the Plan

**Just to let you know, YoungNapoleon22 wrote the first bit and stopped after Gizmo's entrance. Mad props to you, buddy. I hope everything is going okay with ya. :)**

 **But yep! The story is back and running! Let's go! :D**

 **[EDIT: 12/7/2017]**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

* * *

The 'trouble' they found was something none of the Titans would have expected.

Mammoth, of the HIVE trio, was working alone. The meta-human stood in the aisle of a church hauling pews at the walls and frightening the nuns; all of whom were doing their best to find the nearest exit to escape the teen's wrath.

When Mammoth was about to wreak the pulpit, Robin's voice called out.

"You know Mammoth, just because you don't like what they tell you in confession, that doesn't mean you have the right to bring down the house," Robin said as he and his team readied themselves for battle.

Mammoth, hearing the teen's voice, turned from his rampage to address his visitors. "Ha! Very funny bird boy, but I don't have time for jokes right now, so get lost!"

"Lost," Beast Boy spoke up, "like you seem to be. I mean, I don't see the kinder-gardener or rent-a-witch anywhere, so what's this church ever done to you?"

"I don't have to tell you nothing green bean! Now I'll only say this one more time; _get lost_!" Mammoth further demonstrated his annoyance by throwing the pew in his hands at the five teens.

Each Titan made their escape from being slammed, and while he was in the air Robin ordered his team into action: "Titans, go!"

Starfire was the first member of the team to reach their foe and she chose to start off with a flying hay-maker. Her deceptively feminine hand made contact with the larger boy's cheek and sent Mammoth sliding back, but when Starfire tried to follow up with a punch to the stomach her opponent caught it and headbutt her. Hard.

As the alien princess let out a cry of pain and fell back to nurse her wounded skull, Beast Boy came swooping in as a hawk, the green-skinned teen flew just above his enemy and transformed into an elephant.

Mammoth was caught off-guard by this and was hard pressed to catch and hold up the large mammal's weight. While normally this amount wouldn't be much of a problem, the former HIVE student needed to be ready for the lift or else his muscles wouldn't have time to prepare and he struggled. But thankfully, Mammoth's strength bordered on super-human and allowed him to handle Beast Boy in his elephant form.

Unfortunately, it took too long for Mammoth to get used to the weight, and when he went to toss Beast Boy away, the former student was blasted in the chest by Cyborg's arm-cannon.

"Argh!" Mammoth bellowed, and it only got worse when Robin came from behind and swept the villain's feet out from under him with his bo-staff.

Mammoth came down hard, his back hitting the carpeted floor of the church. He let out a grunt of pain but was able to avoid Robin's second strike aimed at his stomach. Mammoth rolled away and sprang up from the floor to shoulder Robin in the side.

Raven, who had just been about to cast a spell, turned her attention away from her team's foe and to Robin. The hooded empath felt her heart surge at seeing her leader cry out in pain and chose to use her magic to catch the spiky-haired teen rather than attack Mammoth.

During that time, when he was free, Mammoth tapped on his right ear and whispered to himself. "Hey, Jinx, are you finished yet? I'm not trying to keep this up ya know, these guys are pretty tough, remember?"

* * *

Down in the basement of the church, among the unlit candles and 'holy treasures' stood a lone nun. She was kneeling in her long, black robes, looking like she's planting something on the wall of the church behind the treasures.

It was a powerful hand sized miniature bomb.

This person wasn't part of the congregation...it was none other than Jinx, disguised as a nun.

The pink-haired spell-caster had been given the uniform by the Joker, who had kept it from one of his earlier escapades with Harley back in Gotham, and been instructed to keep her head down and quiet for the plan to work. If she had ruined the church job, the rest of the setups would be a bust as well; all that pressure made the witch sweat, almost ruining the make-up Harley had applied to make Jinx look 'normal'.

The thought of blowing up a church made the villain queasy, especially when paired with their next targets; an orphanage, and a grade school.

 _'But this is for The Joker, to prove I'm ready for the big times, so I have to do this. No second guessing Jinx!'_ She told herself before her earpiece buzzed to life and she heard Mammoth on the other end. " _Hey, Jinx, are you finished yet? I'm not trying to keep this up ya know, these guys are pretty tough, remember?"_

Jinx jumped a little at the sudden voice in her ear, nearly dropping the bomb in her hands, but she managed to hold onto it and put it on the wall's surface, pushing a button that made the bomb sprout out sharp appendages, forcefully sinking into the stone wall. Once she placed the bomb, she put her finger on her left ear and angrily replied back, "Yeah, I'm finished. And geez, give me a heart attack why don't ya!? Now get going you big baby, your bomb's up next."

* * *

Back up above, in the middle of the aisle, Mammoth had gone back to the defensive. He was ducking out of the way of Starfire's roundhouse kick and blocking a punch by Cyborg when he heard his own team-mate's response. Hearing this made him relieved; his fighting was done. Tossing Cyborg over his shoulder, Mammoth used those few precious seconds to bring out a small device from his belt. _'Brother Blood always did say to be prepared for anything.'_

Mammoth closed his eyes and threw the device down on the floor, breaking it and activating it, which immediately flooded the church with a bright light. One strong enough to blind the Titans.

Opening his eyes back up Mammoth saw that his five foes were all clutching their faces in pain, doing their best to rub out whatever pain was in their eyes. Smirking victoriously, the husky teen grunted smugly before making his exit at the back of the church.

As he was running, he pushed his left ear and whispered, "You're up Gizmo."

* * *

" _You're up Gizmo."_

That was all the pint-sized super-genius needed to hear before he came out of his hiding place in an alleyway. He activated his shoulder lasers and six of his spider walkers as he made his way to the foster home doors. He blasted the doors down and stepped into the new entrance he'd created as Gizmo called out, "This is for kicking my friend out for 'looking too old'!"

Shrieks of terror and fear echoed through the halls as Gizmo made his way through the orphanage with his spider walkers. The tiny techno teen laughed as he tore down doors and put holes in walls.

"Hahahahaha! That's right you pit-sniffing apes! Run, run and hide like the cowards that you are!" He hollered.

Gizmo ran rampant inside the Jump City Home for Children, making sure to revel in all the screams that rang out around him; he loved being the 'big guy on campus', he liked being the one in control.

He just has to keep this up until Mammoth arrives. And that's fine with him.

* * *

 _'Now I gotta get to the van!'_ Mammoth thought as he made his way through a corridor, leading him to the back exit of the church. The vehicle was a white carrier van with black tinted windows that they stole one time, with the words printed _'Miss Emily's Flowers'_ on it that the HIVE trio stole one time. It was parked next to the curb with no cars blocking its way, and as he neared the van, he opened up the sliding door and entered it, sliding it closed.

"Okay, Miss Quinn, we're ready to go!"

The jester looking woman arched her head back at the open window that separates the drivers and passenger seat and smirked. "Alrighty, Brawny! Get dressed soon, cause you're coming up next for this one!"

Harley Quinn then stomped on the accelerator and the van started to speed out to their next destination.

* * *

The Titans continued to rub their eyes to get rid of the stinging sensation in them. Once it subsided and they got their vision back, they all glanced around to see if they could spot Mammoth. Unfortunately, they couldn't.

"Darn it!" Robin said with irritation. "Titans! Search the church everywhere for Mammoth. Hopefully he won't be-"

 _ **BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!**_

Robin looked down at his T-Communicator that was strapped to his utility belt. Raising an eyebrow, he quickly snapped it off his belt opened the lid to talk whichever police authority was on the other line.

It buzzed through static and the line was connected. It sounded like the rough voice of the police chief, who was named Alan Remming. "Titans! The Jump City Home for Children is being attacked by Gizmo!"

"The foster care home? Gizmo's attacking it?" Robin asked in confusion.

"Affirmative! He just started attacking everyone there! I've stationed some men as of this moment to go over to that location! We know we sent you and your team to Saint Mary's Catholic Church, but we need at least some of you there! Hurry, the children depend on it!" the police chief Alan pleaded to them.

Robin frowned. _'Why would Gizmo attack a foster home?'_ "Don't worry, we'll be there!" he said to the police chief.

"Thank you, Titans! Hurry!" And with that final plea, Alan cut off the connection.

When Robin hung up and clipped his T-Communicator back on his belt, Beast Boy voiced his opinion on the matter. "Dude, that's kind of messed up. What made him so mad that he would _attack_ an orphanage?"

"That is rather...disturbing," Starfire said, looking a little bothered by the distress call.

"That's low, even for him," Raven commented with a scowl.

"Well, he is a little maniac," Cyborg mumbled.

"Either way, somebody needs to find Mammoth while the rest of us go to the orphanage to stop Gizmo. Who's going to be left behind to find the big guy?"

"I'll go." Cyborg volunteered.

"Me too." Beast Boy said.

Robin nodded. "Okay then. Raven, Starfire, let's go!"

The Boy Wonder ran towards the front doors with the two super-heroines flying in tow out of the church. The girls flew to their destination, while Robin ran to his waiting motorcycle in front of the entrance of the building.

Beast Boy turned to Cyborg saying. "Alright dude, let's go find us a stray woolly mammoth!"

Cyborg smirked and nodded. "I'll search the inside, while you'll search the outside."

"Roger that!" Beast Boy confirmed, and with that, they split up to find Mammoth; Cyborg through the halls, while Beast Boy transformed into an eagle and flew outside to see if he could spot the villain.

* * *

 _'I got to get out of here!'_ Jinx thought hurriedly, as she ran through the halls of the church, trying to find some sort of back exit. She couldn't go back the way she came, which was the front entrance, cause that will raise suspicion, also add to the fact that the Titans could still be in the sanctuary.

She dashed further into the back of the church, and soon found a door that was labeled 'EXIT'. With a sigh of relief, she went to the door, until halfway there, she heard a deep voice.

"Hey, what are you doing here!?"

 _'Crap!'_ Jinx froze. She recognized that voice anywhere.

"Ma'am, you need to get out of here! There's a big brute destroying the place!" Cyborg stated.

Jinx cleared her throat and tried her best to disguise her voice while her back is facing him. "O-Oh? No wonder it seems so quiet. I was...in the bathroom! T-Thank you! I, uh, better go!"

"Hold on! You need an escort. I'll get you out of here!" Cyborg offered, as he approached her.

"U-Um-" she then jumped as a mechanical hand was on her arm, guiding her to the back door that exits out of the church, which leads to the church garden.

 _'Whatever you do, do not sweat up a storm!'_ Jinx thought as she nervously walked beside Cyborg.

As soon as they got further out of the church's premises, Cyborg turned to the disguised Jinx and said. "Alright ma'am, I think you're safe right now. The big brute I'm looking for might still be around here, so try to find some shelter."

Jinx tried not to look at Cyborg, in hope that her slightly applied face make-up didn't come off and give away her identity. "Uh, t-thank you. I will. Um, God bless." And with that, she sprinted off to her right and onto the sidewalk, passing cars that were parked on the side.

Cyborg looked on at the 'nun' in curiosity. "Huh...she was acting kind of strange. I hope I didn't drag her too rough..." he then shrugged. "Maybe she was being one of those timid shy nuns." Not thinking too much on the matter, he turned back to the church with resolute. "Alright then, time to find 'Tiny'." He ran back into the church.

Meanwhile, Jinx kept running, turning her head every once in a while to see if Cyborg was still watching her leave. Seeing that he went back to the church, she stopped running and bent over in exhaustion and relief, taking deep breaths.

 _'Man, that was close.'_ Jinx thought as she stood up, mumbling to herself now. "Darn that Cyborg! He has to be so _nice_!" With that, she turned to her right to an alleyway to hide from view. When she was in the clear, she tapped the communicator in her ear and said quietly. "Okay, Mammoth, I'm out. Are you dressed?"

" _Yep! Miss Quinn is nearing the orphanage now! She'll be picking you up in a little bit! Try to keep a lookout!"_

"Okay. Tell me when she's coming."

" _Roger."_

As she waited for Harley to come zooming in, she took her time to look at her disguised nun shoes, which she had to replace them. People will get suspicious of a nun wearing black boots with purple platforms on it. She left her other shoes in the van...

She lifted up her nun skirt to look at the shoes she's wearing.

"Ugh...these do not go with my stockings." she groaned.

* * *

Gizmo barged in the halls, shooting his lasers at the panicking children and staff members, laughing all the way while causing havoc. As he was wandering through a hall, he noticed the classroom door was closed. Smirking mischievously, he steered his spider walkers to the door, getting his spider walker legs to insert the frame of the door and breaking the hinges off of it. Once he did with a loud pull, he tossed the door aside out in the hall and entered inside.

There were scared children and a female teacher crowding up in the back far corner of the classroom, the teacher trying her best to shield the kids.

"Well, well, it seems we got ourselves a bunch of scared chickens!" Gizmo said with a smug smirk as he walked over to where the frightened crowd was.

The middle-aged teacher, looking scared out of her mind, said to the children. "Don't worry, children! Just stay calm!"

"Ha! Yeah, try to stay calm while I blast your butts off!" Gizmo says as he advances towards them.

It was then a brave boy squeezed through the crowd of children, the teacher exclaiming his name. "Franklin!"

Gizmo raised a brow at the bold boy, who looked angry at the super-villain once he came up to him.

"Leave us alone, you big _jerk!"_ the boy named Franklin exclaimed, pointing at Gizmo defiantly.

Gizmo arched a brow at the boy. "Oh yeah, and what are you gonna do about it, pit stinker!?"

Franklin looked at the techno-wiz with a raised eyebrow himself. "Pit stinker? What kind of insult is that?"

Gizmo blinked. "Uh...a good one?"

"No it isn't! It sounds stupid! Even I can come up with better insults than that!" Franklin countered.

Gizmo glared at him. "Oh yeah!? Think of something on the spot then!"

"How about a big pile of crap-for-brains!?" Franklin exclaimed.

"Franklin!" the teacher said in shock and horror, while the kids looked on in fear.

Gizmo looked stunned at the insult. "Wha-wha-how-wha-hey!"

"You know, for a genius, you're not very good at comebacks," Franklin said with his arms crossed.

Now Gizmo glared at him ferociously. "Oh, you are SO gonna get it now!" He aimed one of his lasers at Franklin, whose confident stance weakened a bit as the barrel of the laser started to glow.

But then, a dark wall materialized and shielded the boy, which the laser had struck, not harming Franklin one bit. Gizmo's laser had a violent recoil because the laser was too close to the dark wall.

"ACK!" Gizmo exclaimed.

Then one of three Titans, Raven, came up next to Franklin, grabbed a hold of him and placed him back to the crowd of kids and the teacher.

"You did good, kid," Raven said with a smirk.

Franklin's eyes were bright with pleasant surprise, as were the other kids and teacher.

Gizmo gritted his teeth in frustration, and it was until then another voice came to his attention.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own _actual_ size, Gizmo?" said the voice of Robin. Gizmo turned around to see the Boy Wonder standing behind the boy genius, along with Starfire, who was floating little ways next to him.

The tech-wiz growled. "Okay! Then how about we settle this!?"

"But why are you attacking an orphanage? What have these children ever done to you?" Star asked in puzzlement.

"None of your stinking business!" Gizmo exclaimed as he powered up his shoulder lasers to shoot at Robin and Starfire. They both dodged the blasts, Robin leaping to his right, while Starfire flew to her left, barely missing them as the lasers blast through a chunk of the teacher's desk.

Once Robin rolled to the other side of the room and stood, he threw two birdarangs at Gizmo, who instantly deflected them with two of his spider walker legs. Starfire flew straight towards Gizmo, rearing her glowing fist back and was about to deliver a punch to the little troll when he pressed a certain button on his wrist. It was then a blue-ish force field emitted out of a device that was on Gizmo's chest, surrounding him except for his spider legs, which phased through the inside of his shield and out of it. When Starfire delivered the punch, she hit the blue force field, making the ball of energy vibrate. She recoiled back a little bit, stunned, but decided to go at it again. She kept punching the blue force field, but it had no effect on Gizmo, who laughed at the alien princess.

"Don't even try!" taunted the boy genius. "There's no way you can penetrate this force field!"

But then all of a sudden, his blue force field was covered by black magic as he was lifted up.

"ACK!" Gizmo yelled in shock as he was being raised up a bit.

"Okay. How about I toss you across the room? Will that break it?" Raven said with a smirk.

"HEY! Let go of me!" Gizmo shouted, all the confidence gone.

"In a moment." Raven turned to the kids and the teacher behind her. "Excuse me, but I might need to do some property damage. Don't worry, it'll be minor."

"HUH?" Gizmo froze in fear.

"Oh no, go on ahead. We'll gladly pay for it!" The teacher said brightly with a smile.

Franklin grinned and nodded. "Yeah! Tear him a new one!"

Raven smiled at the boy's enthusiasm. "Will do."

"W-WAIT!" Gizmo tried to protest, but he was then sent violently to a nearby window in the classroom. "AAAAAAAAAHHH!"

 _ **CRASH!**_

He was sent flying as he crashed through the window, making a medium sized hole on it and yelling all the way. His force field took the brunt of the damage, making it short circuit and letting it fade away when he landed on the pavement of the central outside playground that was situated in the middle of the foster home.

"Uuuugh..." groaned Gizmo as he laid on his back. He sluggishly sat up, shaking off the spinning feeling that was in his head. He opened his eyes to see none other than Robin standing in front of him, with Raven and Starfire flying next to him.

"Give it up, Gizmo. You can't fight all three of us." Robin told him.

"Indeed. You shall not harm these children anymore!" Starfire said valiantly.

"Really though, first Mammoth wrecks a church, and then you wreck a foster home. What are you two planning?" Raven asked with suspicion.

Gizmo gritted his teeth in frustration but soon grinned maniacally. "You'll know soon enough!"

And with that, Gizmo pushed a button on the top of his wrist, making the bottom of his backpack pod, which held his spider-legs, sprout out a jet exhaust. It was now a jet-pack, as it shot out a powerful exhaust of fire, shooting him up into the sky.

Shielding their eyes from the forceful push of air that came from Gizmo's jet-pack, the three Titans looked up at the boy genius as he shouted to them. "LET'S SEE IF YOU SLUDGE-HEADS CAN TRY TO KEEP UP WITH ME!"

Once he said that, he turned in his flight, maneuvering himself to fly down towards the three Titans while using his shoulder mounted lasers to fire in on them. Robin dodged the lasers by running and getting behind cover from the playground equipment, while the girls both dodge the lasers by flying away in a pattern.

* * *

The carrier van slowed down to a nearby alley that was near the foster home once Harley saw that the teenage heroines and Gizmo were flying above it.

"Alright, Mammoth, you all dressed up?" Harley said to the overly buff teenager.

"Yep!" he said as he put on a janitors cap. He was wearing a janitors jumpsuit over his large frame as well as putting on a new pair of shoes. He had his mane of hair into a ponytail and is carrying a mop just to seal the deal.

"Okay! Get in there quick and put the bomb in the designated place! If anyone tries to stop ya to ask questions, do what you have to do! Just don't blow your cover!" Harley told him.

"Got it!" Mammoth nodded as he grabbed the bomb and stuff it in his shirt. He got out of the van, closed it, and dash to the back entrance of the foster home.

Once Harley sees Mammoth dash off, she backed up the car in reverse and got out of the alley. When she did, she turned on the GPS screen on the dashboard and pushed a button. "Alright! Time to get Pasty!"

She then drove off to get Jinx.

* * *

Putting a finger to the communicator in his right ear, Mammoth said into it, "Okay, I'm in the orphanage. Miss Quinn is coming to get ya."

" _Thanks."_

"Try to distract them as much as you can." Mammoth reminded her.

" _Pfft, of course I will. I'm not a pushover like you two."_

Mammoth rolled his eyes and didn't reply back. As he was trying to find his destination, he noticed that the building was mostly empty.

 _'Good, it seems like nobody is_ around.' thought Mammoth as he dashed through the halls and going through a door that's labeled 'BASEMENT' on it. Gizmo's battle with the Titan's was still going on, hearing the commotion outside.

He went down the stairs and stopped at the foot of them as he surveyed his surroundings. He spotted a boiler to his right, which was situated in a stone-walled corner. Mammoth smirked as he went towards the boiler, getting the bomb out of the inside of his disguised janitor suit.

When he was near it, he squeezed the bomb through the boiler at the corner, planting it on the wall behind it, and activating it. Its sharp metal appendages sunk into the wall near the boiler.

"There we go!" Mammoth said triumphantly. "I think that'll cause some extra damage." he put his finger back to his left ear. "Okay Gizmo, I placed the bomb. Make an exit when you need to."

* * *

Still flying around to avoid the flying heroines, Gizmo caught Mammoth's transmission in his right ear. While expertly soaring down to see if he can hit Robin with one of his lasers, he quickly placed his finger on his right ear and said in a normal tone, so the turbines of his jet-pack could drown out what he was saying. "Roger! Checking on Jinx! Now would be a good time to get out!"

" _Roger that!"_

As soon as he cut the line off, he soared back up, barrel-rolling while doing so as he quickly pushed the communicator in his left ear and said, "Okay Jinx, Harley's coming to get ya. Try to find the van with the tracking device I gave you."

" _Yeah, yeah, I got it."_ Jinx on the other line said with an unseen roll of her eyes. " _I can see her now. Just get ready for your part."_

Gizmo 'hmph'ed in annoyance and started to maneuver his jet-pack back at the girls, passing them in a burst of speed. The boy genius took a sharp turn and started to go down towards the playground again where Robin is.

It was then he had a devious idea. _'Heh, maybe if I get one shot at Robin, I'll get recognition from Joker!'_

Meanwhile, Robin was keeping track of Gizmo. He's been dodging his lasers non-stop, and when he saw the little troll come towards him, he decided to get one of his birdarangs out and try to throw one at him.

Gizmo had his laser cannons aimed at him, all the while yelling out. "DODGE THIS, BIRD-BRAIN!"

However, Robin threw the birdarang at Gizmo, which he dodged by swerving. But as soon as Gizmo dodged it, Robin pushed a touch button on his left hand.

 _ **BOOM!**_

"AAAAAACK!" Gizmo shot to his left from the explosive birdarang and began barreling through the jungle gym dome in the playground. His small body was heading towards an opening of the dome, and his stomach hit a bar, knocking the wind out of him and making him slump over it.

Groaning, Gizmo reached up a bar above him and tried to steady himself up, but in doing so he toppled over and fell off the bar, landing on his back on the inside of the jungle gym.

"OOF!" Gizmo grunted. He got up a little sluggishly and turned around to face the three Titans, who were standing outside of the jungle gym dome, staring down the kid genius.

"I don't think that cell is confined enough for you," Robin said sardonically.

Gizmo scoffed. "You pit-sniffers aren't going to send me anywhere!"

"Seriously, you need better insults," Raven said monotonously.

"I agree." Starfire concurred with a nod.

"OH WHAT DO YOU KNOW!?" Gizmo exclaimed. "You know what!? _Forget it_! I'm leaving! But before I do..." he smirked and quickly activated a button on his chest.

Suddenly, there were two flat disks emerging out of each side of his pack. The flat side of the disks were facing the three Titans and soon became very bright. With a bright _flash_ , the two disks emitted a light that blinded the three.

Robin, Raven, and Starfire once again clutched their faces in pain as they grunted at the immense light.

Smirking at his success, he yelled. "SMILE!"

With that he exited out of the jungle gym dome and used his jet-pack to escape, shooting himself up into the sky to soar through his destination.

 _'Alright! Now I got to change into my disguise once I get to that school!'_ Gizmo thought with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

* * *

Rubbing the pain away from their eyes once more, the three Titans vision was coming back to them.

"Ugh, again?" Raven said in frustration.

"Are both of you girls okay?" Robin asked the girls, shaking his head to be rid of the daze that his eyes were inflicted.

"We are fine, Robin," Starfire replied, rubbing the last bit of sting in her eyes.

"TITANS!" said a young child's voice.

The teens looked to their right to see that it was the boy Raven saved. He was waving to them as he stood in view at the open hole Raven made.

"I saw that dork go flying up in the sky!" Franklin yelled out.

Robin smirked at the kid's choice of words. "Thanks, kid!" He turned to the girls. "Okay, we got two on the run. We need to-"

 _ **BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!**_

Robin looked down at his communicator that was on his utility belt with another raised brow. He snapped it off of his belt once again and answered it. "Robin here."

" _Titans! This is crazy! Now Jinx is wrecking Walter Timm Elementary!"_ The police chief Alan exclaimed.

"What?" Robin said in incredulity.

"Are you serious?" Raven said next to Robin.

" _Serious as a heart-attack! She just came out of nowhere and started wrecking the place! Some of my men are on the way, but we need more of you! We're sorry Titans, but we need some more help!"_

"Don't worry! One of us will be on the way! We're coming over!" Robin said with determination.

" _Again, hurry Titans! My grandson is in the school!"_

"We'll save him along with the other children. Count on it." With that said, he cut the line off.

"This is most strange. Why is Jinx attacking a school for little ones?" Starfire asked in confusion.

"Something's not right here..." Raven muttered in thought.

"I agree. But either way, we need to hurry." Robin said. He turned to Starfire. "Star, you can fly faster, so you could easily catch up to Gizmo. Raven and I will head over to the school to fight Jinx."

"Oh...o-okay. A-Are you sure?" Starfire said hesitantly.

Robin looked at Star like she announced that she was queen of Earth. "Um...yeah, Star. You're the fastest flier on the team."

"Oh! Yes! I-I know, I just..." she doesn't want to say anything else unless things would become awkward.

Raven sensed something out of Starfire. It was an aura that she was all too familiar with...but it wasn't strong. In fact, the emotion was just a speck which was mixed in with the confusion...

Jealousy.

Raven eyes widened a bit in dread. _'Oh no. That's the last thing I need right now.'_

She then blurted out. "We need to go. Who knows what Jinx is gonna do?"

Robin nodded. "Right. We need to go Star. Gizmo is probably anywhere right now."

Starfire somehow looked conflicted. "Um...r-right..." she stood there for a second, and then said to Raven. "Take care of Robin, Friend Raven." she then flew up in the air to try to find Gizmo.

As they saw her take off, Robin turned to Raven. "Could you teleport me to my bike?"

Raven nodded. "Sure." She then reached a hand on his shoulder.

Robin tensed, feeling nervous all of a sudden. He turned to her and blurted out, "Wha-what are you doing?"

Raven looked at him oddly, but soon realized why he was anxious. She controlled her emotions as she flushed slightly while looking down, thankful that her hood was up. "Um...it's quicker to teleport you there if you're in reach, remember?"

Robin blinked. "Oh...um..." he blushed slightly, looking away from her. "Right. Sorry, I...forgot. Carry on then."

The empath nodded. "Okay..."

Before she summoned her dark magic, she remembered Starfire's words.

" _Take care of Robin, Friend Raven."_

She knows that wasn't a play on words, but...

 _'...Damn.'_

It was then Raven used her dark magic to teleport them both to Robin's motorcycle.

* * *

 **Alright! I'm stopping here! I will continue the next part in the next chapter! I just want to post this to let you all know that I'm still writing the story. ;)**

 **To tell you all the honest truth, I wanted to make this chapter longer, but because of my studies and work, I decided that this would be a good enough place to stop. Also, I really hope my fight scenes after YoungNapoleon22's scene were decent enough. I try really hard, and I hope they're at least entertaining. :(**

 **Honestly though, I'm really sorry for the long wait. I got so many stories to juggle with, plus with work and studying, that it becomes really difficult to focus on just one story. But luckily for you readers out there, I chose this story to post the next chapter with! :D**

 **And believe me, that special guest(Hint: It's Batman. XD ) will come...I don't know when, but he'll probably appear in the next chapter.**

 **But yeah! Please do follow, fave, and most importantly, review! I want to know if you're all still invested in this! ^_^**

 **Keep on rocking, everybody! :)**

 **-TSP**


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